A 2 day film festival organized by Gorakhpur Film Society and Jan Sanskriti Manch started in Gorakhpur on 14 May. This film festival has been held for the past 11 years without corporate funding and has established a progressive tradition and lent a new inspiration to film screening across the country.
Inaugurating the festival, poet-thinker Prof. Laltu said that it is a matter of great strength that all thinking people are fighting in unison in these dark times. President of the organizing committee and senior writer Madan Mohan said that we must fight together to save democracy and freedom of expression. A souvenir of the film festival was released on the occasion. The session was conducted by festival convener, Chandrabhushan Ankur. Senior journalist, Ashok Chowdhary read out a resolution condemning the murders of journalists Rajdev Ranjan and Akhilesh Pratap Singh.
The next part of the festival saw presentations of musical videos: Sambhaji Bhagat’s ‘Yeh Hitler ke Sathi’ in solidarity with FTII students, ‘Chal Chaliye’ by Majma group remembering Kabir and other poets in this era of intolerance, and Hirawal’s song in remembrance of Rohith Vemula.
The next presentation was the screening of Chaitanya Tamhane’s ‘Court’ which powerfully takes apart the justice system of our country and shows that the poor have no place in this system. It was followed by screening of ‘I am Nageshwara Rao Star’ made by students of HCU which deals with the discrimination against Dalit students in institutes of higher education. This film has greater significance as it was at HCU that dalit student Rohith was institutionally murdered. The next film was Rahul Roy’s ‘Factory’ which focused on the Maruti workers’ fight for justice against the oppression unleashed by company management as well as government. After the screening, the director Rahul Roy had a long discussion with the.
The second Prof. Ramakrishna Mani Tripathi memorial lecture was delivered by eminent poet and revolutionary thinker Prof. Laltu. Delivering his lecture on ‘Nationalism’, Prof. Laltoo said that though nearly one fourth people of this country are illiterate, more than half the people spend their lives in abject poverty, the systems for education and health care are in shambles, and despite all this nearly one fourth of the country’s wealth is spent on maintaining the oppressive structures and the oppressor class. All this happens in the name of nationalism. However, today, Dalit-Left-Minority-Women are coming together and their unity is evident in the struggle against oppression and loot of the resources. The Sangh Parivar, on its side is doing its utmost to break this unity as exemplified in JNU. Today we must choose from two options: ether to go with this aggressive oppressive nationalism or to forge a multi-cultural, multi-lingual nationalism where not geographical boundaries but the all-round development of people would define love for one’s country. He said that ‘We fight and protest against hatred for the love of humanity’.
The second day of the festival saw films discussing the struggles of Niyamgiri, Odisha and Kashmir. The film ‘Referendum’ directed by Tarun Mishra is a tale of the struggles of tribals in Niyamgiri. Dongriya who fought the battle to defend their forests and were successful in sending back a ruthless company like the Vedanta. The film ‘Khoon Diy Baarav’ (Blood leaves its Trail) directed by Iffat Fatima sheds light on the situation in Kashmir. Sharing the woes of those missing since last ten years in Kashmir, this film provides a voice to the deep seated sadness and anger among the Kashmiri people. A children’s film ‘Kanche aur Postcard’ showed the indifference of our society to children’s issues. In this era of prohibitions on our freedom of eating and drinking, ‘Caste on the Menu Card’, a meaningful film made by Ananya Gaur and others, received much appreciation from the audience. Pushpa Rawat’s ‘Mod’ presented a realistic image of lower middle class youth. The audience interacted with both Tarun Mishra and Pushpa Rawat after the screening of their movies.
The final programme on the second day was presented by Dr Aziz Ahmed who opened the door to the world of Sahir Ludhiyanvi through anecdotes, songs, and pictures. Youth singer Aamir also kept the audience enthralled with his songs during the breaks. In the end, the convener of the Gorakhpur film society, Manoj Kumar, expressed gratitude towards all. He shared that Cinema of Resistance film festival has now also started in Maharajaganj and Devariya. This year, the festival will also be organized in Mau and Kushinagar. Besides this, the Gorakhpur film society will now strive to organize regular screenings in different parts of the city.
