Join us for the Quebec premiere of award-winning activist and filmmaker Anand Patwardhan’s newest social justice opus, JAI BHIM COMRADE, a documentary about the struggle of the Dalits (previously known as the Untouchables) and their resistance to oppression through music and poetry. This screening is co-presented with the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, the Documentary Centre at Concordia, Kabir Cultural Centre, Montreal Serai, CERAS (South Asia Centre), SAWCC (South Asian Women’s Community Centre), DOC Quebec and QPIRG Concordia. Anand Patwardhan will be present for a post-screening discussion following the projection.
An engaging odyssey, this masterpiece of political, social and cultural historical storytelling shines light on the struggle of India’s lowest caste.
Anand Patwardhan / India / 2012 / 182 ‘ / Marathi – Hindi / S.T. English
WHAT: Montreal premiere screening of JAI BHIM COMRADE with director in attendance
WHEN: Saturday, November 24, 7PM
WHERE: Room H-110, Concordia University, 1455 de Maisonneuve W.
COST: Suggested donation $2-5
INFO: cinemapolitica.org/concordia
SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook event
SHORT SYNOPSIS: After the 1997 police shooting of 10 unarmed Dalit (formerly known as Untouchable) protesters and bystanders in Mumbai’s slums, the community’s rage over their 2,000 years of oppression boils over. For one man, singer, poet and activist, Vilas Ghogre, it’s more than he can bear; filled with despair over the pain and grief of his people, he hangs himself. Compelled by this tragedy, award-winning activist and documentarian Anand Patwardhan focuses his keen lens on the atrocities committed against the Dalits in this magnum opus 14 years in the making, incorporating their voice through their stirring resistance music and poetry. Denied basic human rights for centuries, condemned to clean the filth of the upper caste for pennies a day, then abhorred as lesser beings, the Dalit struggle is deftly counterbalanced by intimate family portraits, moments of inspiration, perseverance and glimpses of a better future.
Click this link to view the trailer for the film and read more.