Kriti Film Club in collaboration with

India Habitat Centre, invites you for

Mindreels.. films on mental health

This October, Kriti Team invites you to share and experience the subject of mental health.. as we mark the World Mental Health Day on 10th October. As a run up to this day, we invite you for MindReels – documentary film screenings at the India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi.

The details of the program are –

Tuesday, October 3rd, 6.30 – 8.30 pm
Opening of MindReels…films on mental health
(@ Stein Auditorium)

There Is Something In The Air
Iram Ghufran |28 mins | Hindustani with English subtitles.
This documentary is a series of dream narratives, and accounts of spiritual possession as experienced by women ‘petitioners’ at the shrine of a Sufi saint in north India.The film invites the viewer to a world of dream and fantasy. Fear and desire is experienced through dreams and ‘afflictions of air’. The shrine is a space where performance becomes the only rule of engagement, and one can begin to think of the possibilities that ‘insanity’ produces.
(Film maker will be present)

Eyes of Stone
Nilita Vachani | 90mins | Mewari and Hindi with English subtitles |1990)
A film about rural women in Bhilwara, Rajasthan and their rituals of possession and exorcism: expressions of faith, rebellion and healing that thrive within the confines of a stringent patriarchal order. The film is a deep and unsettling exploration of one case of possession, which taken to its logical conclusion, becomes an eloquent testimony to the strengths and sadness and indeed the subversions in women’s lives.

Saturday, October 8th, 2011: 6.30 – 8.30 pm
(@ Gulmohar Hall)
Recognising Mental Illness…

Avinash Grows Up
Kareem Khan| 5 mins
A very short message on mental illness.

Exploring Madness
Dr Parvez Imam| 19 mins| Hindi with English Subtitles
Mental illnesses are one of the least understood problems in India. Myths and stigma add to the problems of people suffering from such illnesses. On the other hand there are issues of a lack of infrastructure to treat mental illnesses properly. This film brings together a variety of such issues related to mental illness in the Indian society. The film has six parts, each dealing with a different issue, ranging from people’s perceptions of mental illness to debates among professionals and from the problems of women languishing in mental hospitals to experiences of those who have recovered.
(Film maker will be present)

Discussion on World Mental Health Week – experience sharing with experts and film makers

Sunday, October 9th, 2011: 6.30 – 8.30 pm
(@ Gulmohar Hall)
Understanding Schizophrenia…

The Unreal Reality
Syed Amjad Ali | 16 mins| English
The film is an engaging and informative documentary that captures and demonstrates the difficulties related to that is specific to a mental illness called Schizophrenia about the illness, and is meant to create awareness about it in the society and help people understand the devastating nature of the illness.

A Drop of Sunshine
Aparna Sanyal | 35 min| English
Schizophrenia. It may be one word, but conjures up multiple connotations – Mad. Incurable. Violent. Suicidal. Chemical imbalances. Crazy. A lifelong condition. Inevitable dependency on Medicines. Dark. Terrible. The film takes us through the story of Reshma Valliappan, a 30-year old Indian woman, and charts out her journey of eventual triumph over her condition. It takes a controversial and contrarian view towards recovery from Schizophrenia, proposing that the only treatment method that can work in the condition is one where the so-called ‘patient’ is encouraged and empowered to become an equal partner in the process of healing.

October 10th, 2011: 6.30 – 8.30 pm
(@ Amaltas Basement Theatre)
In and Out of Depression…

Into the Abyss
Vandana Kohli | 30 mins| English
A look at the growing incidence of depression in Delhi including dramatised sequences of a 24 year old management executive’s state of mind, even as the disorder begins to set in.

A Certain Liberation (tbc)
Yasmine Kabir|38 mins |English (subtitled) |2003|Bangladesh
Gurudasi Mondol gave herself up to madness in 1971, during the Liberation War of Bangladesh, as she watched her entire family being killed by the collaborators of the occupying forces.
Thirty years later, Gurudasi continues to roam the streets of Kopilmoni, a small-town in rural Bangladesh, in quest of all she has lost; snatching at will from strangers and breaking into spaces normally reserved for men. In her madness, she has found a strategy for survival.
In Kopilmoni, Gurudasi has attained near legendary status. Through her indomitable presence, she has kept alive the spirit of the Liberation War.

All films will be followed by a discussion with film makers as far as possible.

Kritian Delhi

HamaraShahar Us Baras
Based on a novel by Geetanjalishree
Directed by Kirti Jain

“HamaraShahar Us Baras deals with changing relationships in the background ofsectarian clashes where people’s religious, intellectual and political beliefcame into question.”

The performances are scheduled from 27th September 2011 to 2nd October 2011 at 6.30 PM with additional performances on 1st & 2nd October 2011 at 3.00 PM at Abhimanch auditorium, Bahawalpur House, Bhagwandas Lane off Bhagwandas Road, New Delhi.

Tickets of Rs. 100/-, 50/-, 30/- & 10/-. Advance booking from 24th September 2011 onwards from 11.00 am. -1.00 pm. and 2.00 pm. -4.00 pm at the Repertory Company on all days. Tickets also available an hour before the show, at the venue.

Childrenbelow 8 years will not be allowed. Tape recorders, mobiles, cameras, andhandbags are not permitted in the auditorium. For more information pleasecontact 23383420, 23387290.

About the Play

Hamara Shehar Us Baras is a play set against the onslaught of communal discord in the life of a city and the ensuing displacement of established beliefs,positions and relationships. Daddu and his son Sharad have a couple,Hanif and Shruti, as their tenants for some years.Hanif and Sharad are colleagues in the history department of the University and Shruti is a writer.Subtle yet persistent changes in the lives of Hanif,Shruti and Sharad reflect larger changes around them:the freshly resurgent matth,the city streets and the apparent changes in attitudes of the people in the department.Their close camaraderie is put to the test by the fact that they belong to different religious communities.Hanif’s pain and struggle to refuse being branded only as a representative of his community is compounded by Sharad and Shruti’s constant persuasion,over-protection and even guilt,of belonging to the majority.Against their torturous search for identity and historiography is Daddu representing the wisdom and tolerance of a brand of secularism that both celebrates and believes in difference.The outside, replete with sectarian violence,extremist religious & majority assertions and increasing marginalization of the minorities,impinges upon the inside.As each one resists self-definition through religious identity,unaware of the deep rooted biases and predispositions that come to the fore,they find themselves increasingly isolated and misunderstood.The events,both inside and outside,are narrated by the sutradhaar/writer who is both the witness to as well as a participant in the happenings that affect the lives of the protagonists.