Dhobi Ghat

Interesting film directed by Kiran Rao, with Aamir Khan. Dhobi Ghat, today at River to River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erIzry9cHpI&feature=share

River2River 2011

Quest'anno, dal 2 al'8 dicembre,  Bharat sarà al River to River Florence Indian Film Festival.
Un'occasione unica e imperdibile di immergersi per qualche giorno nel mondo indiano, cinematografico e non.

Come ogni anno, particolare attenzione sarà volta ai film non solo made in Bollywood e ai corti, ai dibattiti e alla danza. Quest'anno infatti vi sarà la danzatrice Maya Devi Mudra con il suo gruppo di danza Rajasthani + Dj set.
Inoltre, in occasione del 150ario della nascita, un focus interamente dedicato al  famoso poeta, drammaturgo, premio Nobel, Rabindranath Tagore.
Il tutto condito da speziatissimi menu indiani all'Odeon Bistrot!
Il festival si svolgerà presso il

Cinema Odeon
Piazza Strozzi, 1
50123 Florence

Ok, vi scrivo direttamente il programma per intero e....Vi aspetto lì! Se non ci sarete, al ritorno ci sarà un resoconto -:)

Friday 2

8.00 pm - Opening Film
Chaplin, Anindo Bandopadhyay
bengali - italian and english subt., 138', col. & b/w, 35 mm, India, 2011
Inspired by the life of Charlie Chaplin, the film brings the audience in a magic atmosphere, showing the odyssey of a man amidst starvation and struggle in the pursuit of achieving fame by showcasing his talent.
After the film, Q&A with actor Rudranil Ghosh.

saturday 3

11.30 am - Talk - free entrance Back to basics. Ascetics and everyday life in India.
Speakers: Filippo Carli and Folco Terzani.

2.30 pm Rabindranath Tagore, Satyajit Ray
english - italian subt., 53', b/n, digibeta, India, 1961
A lyrical and moving portrait shot by Satyajit Ray about the life and work of the celebrated poet, writer and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore, Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913.



3.30 pm Ghare Baire (The Home and the World), Satyajit Ray
bengali - italian and english subt., 138', col., digibeta, India, 1984
Based upon the novel Ghare Baire by Tagore, the film deals with two extremely modern topics: the emancipation of women and dangers of fervent nationalism. The film was in competition for the Palme d'Or in Cannes in 1984. It features Victor Banerjee and Soumitra Chatterjee.


6.30 pm Himself He cooks, Valerie Berteau and Philippe Witjes
no dialogues, 64', col., digibeta, Belgium, 2011
The Sikh temple of Amristar is everyday crowded with dozens of thousands of prayers, going there for the rituals. For them, hundreds of volunteers prepare the food for every meal, in a huge choreography, articulate on the rhythm of the preparation, in a never ending circle.
After the screening, Q&A with the directors Valerie Berteau and Philippe Witjes.

9.00 pm Bol (Speak), Shoaib Mansoor
urdu and hindi - italian and english subt., 150', col., 35 mm, Pakistan, 2011
In Pakistan a father with five daughters and a hermaphrodite son deals with the everyday struggle of earning a living. But poverty is not the biggest problem as violence, intolerance and bigotry are the main issues of the struggle of the young women of the family.
After the screening, Q&A with the actress Zaib Rehman.

sunday 4

11.30 am - Talk - free entrance
Rabindranath Tagore between innovation and tradition.
Coordination: Maria Grazia Beverini del Santo.
Speakers: Sauro Albisani, Franca Bacchiega and Fabrizia Baldissera.

2.30 pm Khudito Pashan (Hungry Stones), Tapan Sinha
bengali - italian and english subt., 108', b/n, digibeta, India, 1960
From a Tagore story, it talks about a tax collector who moves into a haunted mansion in a small town and falls in love with a beautiful ghost.



5.00 pm Adda: Calcutta, Kolkata, Surjo Deb
bengali, english and hindi - italian and english subt., 52', col., dvcam, India, 2011
Quirky and intimate portrait of Calcutta and its people, who love to talk about everything. The conversations or addas never stop: in the street corners, cafes, markets and living rooms.



6.00 pm - Short Films 1, 44'
Malal, Nayla Al Khaja
english - italian subt., 15', col., dvd, India, 2010
Poshak (Facade), Iram Parveen Bilal
urdu and english - italian and english subt., 11', col., hdcam, Usa, 2010
Prakriti, T. Surendra
marathi - italian and english subt., 11', col., digibeta, India, 2010
The way it's played, Shripriya Mahesh
english - italian subt., 7', col., digibeta, Usa, 2011
Can experiences change our life? It happens to four different women: the first one meets a stranger during her honeymoon, the second tries to figure out the meaning of her dream, the third decides to follow her Dhamma and the last one discovers that real friendship is not playing a social role.

7.00 pm Nataraja, Filippo Carli
no dialogues, 25', col., blue ray, Italy, 2011
Images of daily actions, almost like rituals, painting a fresco of colours and spirituality, bringing on the big screen the dance and the gesture that go with everyday life in some villages, in the constant effort of keeping the connection with the spiritual world of nature.
After the screening, Q&A with the director Filippo Carli.

9.00 pm Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Zoya Akhtar
hindi and english - italian and english subt., 156', col., 35 mm, India-Spain, 2011
A hit at the Indian box office, with a cast of young Bollywood stars, this is a crazy and fun road movie. A trip to Spain of three friends that will change their lives forever.

monday 5

6.00 pm FTII and Whistling Woods Student Films, 61'
Airawat, Renu Savant
hindi - italian and english subt., 11', col., dv, India, 2011
Stranger on a train, Brayden Yoder
hindi - italian and english subt., 9'30'', col., dv, India, 2011
Flying high, Sharofat Ahirwar
hindi - italian and english subt.,, 10'45'', col., dv, India, 2011
Now playing, Ankita Sharma
hindi - italian and english subt., 10', col., dv, India, 2011
Sanudra, Federico Del Monte
hindi - italian and english subt., 8'46'', col., dvd, India, 2011
Gulmohar, Arati Kadav
hindi - italian and english subt., 10'45'', col., dvd, India, 2011

7.00 pm Dreaming Taj Mahal, Nirmal Chander
urdu and hindi - italian and english subt., 51', col., dvcam, India, 2010
Haidar, a taxi Pakistani driver, dreams of going to India to see the Taj Mahal. Unfortunately the long-standing relationship of hostility between India and Pakistan, make Haidar's quest for a visa look almost impossible.



9.00 pm Elektra, Shyamaprasad
malayalam - italian and english subt., 123', col., 35 mm, India, 2010
Inspired from the ancient Greek myth, Elektra is a psycho-sensual drama heavily charged with primal energy. A rueful journey into the bruised familial bonds of an aristocratic household in Central Kerala, the film explores the texture of desire and loss.

tuesday 6

5.30 pm Videokaaran, Kavalmaniyam Jagannathan
hindi and tamil - italian and english subt., 73', col., dvd, India, 2010
A documentary on the very complex cinema-fan relationship in India. It is about people, who while living on the edge in their day to day existence, find a bond with moving images, words and stories. They consume cinema differently and also edit out films according to audience tastes.

7.00 pm Next Year in Bombay, Jonas Pariente and Mathias Mangim
english and marathi - italian and english subt., 55', col., minidv, France, 2010
Sharon and Sharona are the last two educators of the Jewish community Bene Israel settled in India two thousand years ago. They have to decide to stay in India and be Jewish or fly to Israel in order to provide their children a better Jewish life.


9.00 pm Snow, Rohan Fernando
english and tamil - italian and english subt., 90', col., blue ray, Canada, 2011
After having lost her entire family in the Asian tsunami, Parvati, leaves her small village in Sri Lanka and immigrates to Canada, into a family of distant relatives. She begins working in a hotel as a chambermaid where she meets a host of people who will have life-changing effects on her.

wednesday 7

6.30 pm Short Films 2, 54'
Esha, Reza Dahya
english - italian subt., 14', col., digibeta, Canada, 2011
How to lie to You Wife, Shankey Srinivasan
english - italian subt., 6', col., dv, Usa, 2011
Prakata Het Yad, Milind Dhaimade
gibberish, 20', col., digibeta, India, 2011
The Return Address, Abi Varghese
english - italian subt., 14', col., digibeta, Usa, 2010
How much we accept to lie in our lives? The two protagonists of Esha do it to have a Western name, a man in order to hide an afternoon affair to his wife, a whole family to seem free spirited and unconventional and the young assistant of a photographer to play cupid.
After the screenings, Q&A with the director Milind Dhaimade.

7.30 pm La table aux chiens, Cédric Martinelli and Julien Touati
no dialogues, 40', col., digibeta, France-India, 2010
The hard training to become a kathakhali dancer is narrated without a word, but with images as much powerful and effective. The effort and the hard work the boys have to deal with reveal what is hidden behind those brilliant and colourful performances.


9.00 pm Gandu (Asshole), Q
bengali - italian and english subt., 86', col. & b/n, hdcam, India, 2010
Gandu is twenty year old. He hates his life and his mother, and raps out the hate, anger, dirt and filth of his existence. He and his rikshawpuller friend enter a psychedelic world filled with violence, drugs and pornography. Reality, fiction, dreams and hallucination all blend together to create a film to experience more than to understand.
After the screening, Q&A with the director Q.

thursday 8

11.30 am - Winner of the 2010 River to River Audience Award
I am, Onir
hindi - italian and english subt., 110', col., hdcam, India, 2010
In an insensitive, unfriendly world, individual identity is often trampled over. Four different stories. Four poignant, moving stories.




2.30 pm Teen Kanya (Three Daughters), Satyajit Ray
bengali - italian and english subt., 168', b/n, digibeta, India, 1961
Satyajit Ray adapted three short stories (The Postmaster, Monihara, and Samapti) by Tagore as a tribute to the author in his birth centenary in 1961. Female characters are in focus and the director beautifully portrays their lives and emotions.


5.30 pm Arranged Happiness, Daniela Dar-Creutz
english and kashmiri - italian and english subt., 90', col. & b/n, digibeta, India-Germany-Usa, 2010
The documentary follows all the passages that a whole Indian family has to face for the wedding of one of the daughters: from the choice of the husband to the ceremony itself. The thing the parents still don't know is that the director, their guest, is in a relationship with their only son.
After the screening, Q&A with the director Daniela Dar-Creutz.

7.30 pm Animation films
Anifest India 2011, no dialogues, 40', col., dvd, India, 2011
The most interesting works of AnifestIndia 2011, in collaboration with The Animation Society of India.

8.30 pm River to River Bitebay Audience Award and screening of the winners of the Advantge India Competition.

9.00 pm Closing Film
Dhobi Ghat, Kiran Rao
hindi and english - italian and english subt., 95', col., 35 mm, India, 2010
The movie, starring actor-producer Aamir Khan, is about the intertwining relationships of four people and explore the city of Mumbai through their individual perspectives. In her directorial debut, Kiran Rao offers an emotional experience of a city, mixing both personal and universal themes.

फिर Milenge

Londra 2012 puzza di gas!

Lo sapevate chi ha firmato un contratto con il Comitato Olimpico "Londra 2012" per la fornitura di una decorazione che circonderà lo stadio durante le Olimpiadi e le Paraolimpiadi?
La Dow Chemical Company.
Chi è?
La Dow Chemical Company è l'industria chimica proprietaria, dal 2001, della Union Carbide Corporation, la fabbrica di pesticidi responsabile del disastro di Bhopal del 1984.
Eppure la linea di pensiero del Comitato Olimpico è tutta diretta al rispetto della natura, al rinnovabile, all'utilizzo ecosostenibile. E questa presenza ingombrante?
Per Amnesty International è “Uno schiaffo ai sopravvissuti di Bhopal, una mancanza di rispetto per la loro lotta per la giustizia”, come cita The Economic Times.
Sono trascorsi 27 anni dalla tragedia che ha visto morire circa 10.000 persone di una morte lenta e dolorosa, per asfissia da gas nocivi; nulla è cambiato, i colpevoli non sono stati giudicati, chi ha pagato per ora sono stati solo gli operai e tutte le persone che vivevano nel circondariato. Ancora oggi i parenti delle vittime non hanno ricevuto risarcimenti né accesso alle cure mediche necessarie alle conseguenze che ancora sono riscontrabili nei neonati.
Charamente la Dow si scrolla di tutte le responsabilità legate alla Union Carbide e a Bhopal.

Alle Olimpiadi del 2012,
grazie a questo contratto, moriranno di nuovo le vittime di Bhopal ma questa volta tra festeggiamenti e lazzi.

E' nata la piccola Bachchan-Rai

Gioia in casa Bachchan, la famiglia più famosa di Bollywood.
E' nata la figlia di Aishwariya Rai e Abhishek Bachchan! La piccola appena nata era già nella rete di social network e giornali curiosi di sfornare la notizia del mese. Infatti il papà, dall'ospedale, twitta:
""IT'S A GIRL!!!!!! :-)))))"
e il nonno interattivo, Big B, esprime la felicità di essere diventato nonno con un "cinguettio":
"I AM DADA to the cutest baby girl, A dada ji ... Ecstatic".

In questo modo, la bimba, di poche ore di vita, è già argomento di articoli e servizi televisivi. Beh certo, è la figlia della coppia più famosa, ricca e bella del cinema made in Bombay, ha una madre che è considerata icona della bellezza indiana, ha nonni attori del calibro di Jaya e Amithabh Bachchan e antenati poeti ma che senso ha postare un evento così speciale con un "tweet"?
Io lascerei cinguettare gli uccellini di Mumbai, stile Cenerentola di Walt Disney, semmai ce ne fossero ancora nella foresta di cemento della città.

In ogni caso, ci uniamo alla gioia di Aish e Abhi, dando loro le più vive congratulazioni!

India vs China. Quale economia migliore?

In the inevitable comparisons that economists and business people make between Asia's two rising giants, China and India, China nearly always comes out on top.

The Chinese economy historically outpaces India's by just about every measure. China's fast-acting government implements new policies with blinding speed, making India's fractured political system appear sluggish and chaotic. Beijing's shiny new airport and wide freeways are models of modern development, contrasting sharply with the sagging infrastructure of New Delhi and Mumbai. And as the global economy emerges from the Great Recession, India once again seems to be playing second fiddle. Pundits around the world laud China's leadership for its well-devised economic policies during the crisis, which were so effective in restarting economic growth that they helped lift the entire Asian region out of the downturn.

[...]

Though India still can't compete on top-line economic growth — the World Bank projects India's gross domestic product (GDP) will increase 6.4% in 2009, far short of the 8.7% that China announced in mid-January – India's economy looks to be rebounding from the downturn in better shape than China's.

[...]

By comparison, China's two-year, $585 billion package is roughly twice as large, at about 6% of GDP per year. Most important, India managed to achieve its substantial growth without putting its banking sector at risk. In fact, India's banks have remained quite conservative through the downturn, especially compared with Chinese lenders.India maintained robust growth without Beijing's hefty stimulus in part because it is less exposed to the international economy. China's exports represented 35% of GDP compared with only 24% for India in 2008. Thus India was afforded more protection from the worst effects of the financial crisis in the West, while China's government needed to be much more active to replace lost exports to the U.S. More significantly, though, India's domestic economy provides greater cushion from external shocks than China's. Private domestic consumption accounts for 57% of GDP in India compared with only 35% in China.The Indian economy is not immune to risks. The government has to contend with a yawning budget deficit, and last year's weak monsoon rains will likely undercut agricultural production and soften rural consumer spending. But rapid growth is expected to continue. The World Bank forecasts India's economy will surge 7.6% in 2010 and 8% in 2011, not far behind the 9% rate it predicts for China for each of those years. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, when speaking about his country's more plodding pace of economic policymaking, has said that "slow and steady will win the race." The Great Recession appears to have proved him right.

From Time of Jan 28 2010. By Michael Schuman/Hong Kong

L'Everest Inquinato

Dopo notizie quotidiane di vulcani rimpinzati di rifiuti di ogni genere, laghi che inghiottono rifiuti tossici e mari oscurati da immondizie, pare quasi che alla notizia dell’Everest inquinato non restiamo poi così sorpresi.

Ma non c’è da assuefarsi, questo è ovvio, soprattutto se si pensa che la vetta più alta al mondo, una montagna sacra, è ricoperta da 10 tonnellate di rifiuti di cui oltre 400 chili sono escrementi umani. Questi i calcoli del gruppo ambientalista Eco Everest Expedition. 

Per questo l’Associazione Eco Himal, promotrice del progetto Saving Mount Everest 2011-2012, ha proposto di costruire delle toilette sul tetto del mondo. Questa proposta ha, però, suscitato molto clamore e qualche polemica. Si possono installare dei gabinetti su un monte sacro? Dubbi spirituali assalgono i locali “Ne andrà del nostro Karma?” e materiali “Il ghiaccio potrebbe spostarsi e finir giù”.

Al governo nepalese l’ardua sentenza.

Dall'India al Trentino. Come risparmiare acqua

<<Il mezzo può essere paragonato a un seme, il fine a un albero; e tra mezzo e fine vi è esattamente lo stesso inviolabile nesso che c'è tra seme e albero>> Mahatma Gandhi

Il governo dell'acqua è un tema non solo ambientale, ma anche di corretta gestione economico-territoriale.
Lo evidenzia uno studio di Sheetal Sekhri, professore all'Università della Virginia, appena pubblicato dall'American Economic Association. Il testo spiega come la gestione pubblica dell'acqua sia la più efficiente in termini di produttività agricola e conservazione della risorsa. Le aree rurali dell'India sono le più interessanti per analizzare le problematiche di sostenibilità di comunità locali. Gli appezzamenti sono piccoli (meno di un ettaro a coltivatore), con una vocazione all'autoproduzione ma anche con drammatiche condizioni di dipendenza dagli eventi atmosferici. Sekhri ha analizzato una delle aree rurali più povere dell'India, l'Uttar Pradesh, dove le autorità hanno installato sistemi di irrigazione per dare l'acqua ai contadini, con valori economici fissi: 8 rupie l'ora durante i monsoni, 16 nella stagione secca. I sistemi privati, nella stessa area, si attestano attorno alle 2 rupie l'ora, ma mentre la gestione pubblica non ha ridotto le riserve di acqua disponibile, laddove sono state utilizzate pompe private la contrazione della risorsa è stata rilevante (oltre il 20 per cento), e in alcuni casi è diventata nel frattempo inaccessibile. I contadini più poveri si sono abituati a consumare meno, e allo stesso tempo hanno incrementato la resa per ettaro, grazie a informazioni precise sulle caratteristiche dei terreni e delle coltivazioni. Esattamente come nella Carta dei suoli e dei paesaggi delle aree agricole del Trentino, messa a punto dall'Istituto agrario di San Michele all'Adige attraverso centinaia di carotagii e analisi dei terreni. Il testo mira a una gestione sostenibile dell'acqua in base alle caratteristiche del territorio.
(Da D del 5 Nov 2011, a cura di Andrea Di Stefano)

Lady Gaga wears a sari

Anche le dive più stravaganti e più chiacchierate approdano in India e...Indossano l'abito più elegante e sensuale che si possa fare con un unico e lungo pezzo di stoffa, una sari.
Lady Gaga arriva a Delhi, dice di credere nella reincarnazione, di voler collaborare con King Khan e indossa (a modo suo) proprio una sari!

Frm the Times of India of Nov 1 2011
There was no bigger or better way to end India's inaugural Grand Prix, than to have Lady Gaga croon to her desi monsters in her maiden performance in India. She performed for 30 minutes at Arjun Rampal's closing party at LAP, Buddh International Circuit, and the tables for the bash were reportedly sold out weeks in advance.
he didn't disappoint - along with her usual crazy self, there were Indian elements in her music, and she even debuted her latest single, "Marry The Night", here. Many Bollywood actors turned up, including Preity Zinta, Shah Rukh, Bipasha, Raima and Ria Sen, and Sophie Choudry.Won't do just a 10-minute show
Everyone knows how mother monster takes care of her little monsters, and it was no different here. Her performance was officially slated to be only eight to twelve minutes long, and when Lady Gaga left the stage after ten minutes, everyone thought that was the end. But Gaga had a surprise in store as she came back and went ballistic for a whole half hour. "They told me I had to sing just three songs. I told them that if I am going all the way to India, I am certainly not going to sing just three songs. I'm not going to take just ten minutes of yours," said Gaga.
Gaga over the sari
Gaga was thrilled about the Tarun Tahiliani creation she wore for her concert. She said she had brought all sorts of clothes, but when she had to pick a dress and looked at what she had, she realised the Tahiliani sari was the prettiest. "So what I did was, I ripped this sari into shreds and I made it a little bit of New York," she said. The sari became a wrap dress, and Gaga being Gaga, one of her male dancers tore it from her body to leave her just in a teeny body suit midway through her performance.

New single debut
Hours before Gaga took to the stage, Arjun Rampal told us, "I saw her rehearsing and she has planned the most amazing performance. There are a lot of Indian elements in her act. She's also flown a sitar player from the US. Most importantly, she'll perform one of her numbers that she hasn't done anywhere. It's one of the exclusives of her act."
I believe in reincarnation
The exclusive number was "Marry The Night", her latest single, which she performed for the first time. She also sang "Born This Way", "Judas", "Poker Face", "Bad Romance" and "Edge of Glory". Gaga's act was punctuated with her telling the audience about her philosophical beliefs. Before she sang "Edge of Glory", she revealed that she'd written the song as a tribute to her grandfather. She was inspired by her grandparents' love for each other, and as she saw her grandfather edge closer to his life's end, she wrote this. It was also for her father who lost his father, but the song was also a reassertion of the philosophy of rebirth, which she strongly believes in. Reincarnation, said Gaga, was about going over the edge, and that's what the song was about. She ended with a warm "Namaste India". While the audience was certainly thrilled, it looked like the happiest person was Lady Gaga herself, as she said, "I have waited for a lifetime to perform in India."

Benvenuti!

Namaste, Salaam a tutti!

Sono lieta di darvi il benvenuto nella nuova pagina di questo blog completamente dedicato all'India.

Chi ci seguiva già su Facebook sa bene che non è uno dei tanti blog "indofili unidirezionali" ma si propone di fornire tutte le informazioni possibili su svariati argomenti, in maniera multilaterale, sul subcontinente.

Per fare tutto ciò, mi piacerebbe tanto gioire della collaborazione anche di altre persone...Per cui, non esitate a scriverci, mandarci mails con suggerimenti, foto, notizie e quant'altro.

Questa è solo un'anteprima...

Shubh Ratri, Notte.