Saturday, August 28, 2010

SYDNEY - INDIAN, NEPALI & DIASPORIC LESBIAN AND GAY FILM FESTIVAL


Photo: You Can’t Curry Love
Reid Waterer
USA, 2009, 23 Min

Satrang: South Asian Queer Film Festival, Sydney

The second edition of Satrang: South Asian Queer Film Festival will take place at the University of Technology, Sydney, over two weekends in September (18, 19, 25 & 26).

The festival will kick off with the Australian premier of yet-to-be-released Bollywood movie Dunno Y … Na Jaane Kyun (being tagged as India’s answer to Brokeback Mountain), followed by a Q&A with the film’s leading stars, Kapil Sharma and Yuvraaj Parashar, who’ll be flying to Sydney all the way from Mumbai – Bollywood HQ in India – to be part of the festival.

“The film promises to break new ground by telling the story of a serious relationship between two Indian men,” informs festival director and Sydney-based television producer, Sadhana Jethanandani. “It comes on the heels of the Delhi High Court overturning a law criminalising homosexuality, so it’s quite relevant … and controversial as it’s not making a caricature of its protagonists, but capturing a change in the society,” she adds.

Satrang, the festival title, means “seven colours” in Hindi language and refers to the rainbow. It’s organised by Trikone Australasia, a not-for-profit social support group for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) community of South Asian discent in Australia.

“The name of the festival is also reflective of the many different experiences and stories of South Asian queer people, which are being projected on the big screen over four days of colour, celebration, hope and unity,” says Jethanandani.

Other major entries in the film festival include director Shamim Sarif’s The World Unseen and I Can’t Think Straight, director Sridhar Rangayan’s 68 Pages and director Nani Sarah Walker’s Other Nature.

In the short films category, some of the entries are director Sarav Chithambaram’s It’s My Life – A South Asian Queer Story In USA, director Manoj Pandey’s Struggle Within and director Faryal’s Pictures of Zain, a tale of a Pakistani woman who embarks on a journey of self discovery after the death of her gay son, confronting her prejudices and making amends with his grieving lover on the way.

As always, the festival is a reflection of queer life and movements in South Asian countries. “Nepal may be a small country, but the extent of changes that are taking place in that society, with regards to gay rights, is phenomenal. And it’s reflected in the number of films on those themes that are being made in Nepal, with three of them [two short films and one feature film] being part of this festival,” says Jethanandani.

For more information and booking details please go to:
http://www.trikone.org.au/film-festival.php

Monday, August 23, 2010

BOLLYWOOD DREAMING


Photo thanks to:
http://www.tandanya.com.au/ed10/message-sticks-2008-indigenous-film-festival/

I recently saw this cute little documentary about an Aboriginal African-American teenager – Jedda Rae Hill from Broome, Western Australia. Jedda is into boxing, skating and dreams about being a Bollywood star.

This is a must watch for all Australians. The film has successfully toured the short film circuit but it needs to be seen more by South Asian Australian communities who are normally at a loss for not connecting with Aboriginal peoples and cultures.

Director: Cornel Ozies
Producer: Dot West
Writer: Mitch Torres
Duration: 7mins
Genre: Documentary
Year: 2007


Here is a link to the film on youtube
Enjoy!!!


BOLLY WOOD – The name given to India’s hugely successful Hindi speaking film industry. Some time wrongly quoted to include other film industries in India as well. India has a thriving Tamil, Telungu, Bengali, Malayalam and other flilm industries with an international and domestic reach.

DREAMING/DREAM TIME - To put it simplistically, Dreamtime is Aboriginal Australians contemporaneous worldview.
“There are at least four aspects to Dreamtime – The beginning of all things; the life and influence of the ancestors; the way of life and death; and sources of power in life.
Dreamtime includes all of these four facets at the same time, being a condition beyond time and space as known in everyday life. The aborigines call it the ‘all-at-once’ time instead of the ‘one-thing-after-another’ time.”

http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/australian-aborigine-dream-beliefs/

Monday, August 16, 2010

ART? or BEGGING?


Man kneeling and stooped over begging
Photo CAT

If you happen to be in Sydney CBD during the day, you may have come across this man begging. Always kneeling…arms outstretched with a baseball cap for collecting money. As the day goes along he stoops over and by the evening his head is lowered, still keeling but with his bum resting on his feet. Confronting, disturbing and pathetic at the same time this guy makes me feel uneasy but yet strangely captivating. I have never plucked up the courage to speak to him but so many questions go through my head.

Laden with heavy Catholic symbolism, I wondered if this was some kind of endurance art.

Endurance art - An artistic expression through acts of physical pain, trauma, survival or deprivation.

Tehching Hsieh, a well known endurance artist's 1978 performance statement is as follows

STATEMENT

I, Sam Hseigh, plan to do a one year performance piece, to begin on September 30, 1979.

I shall seal myself in my studio, in solitary confinement inside a cell-room measuring 11’6” x 9’ x 8’

I shall NOT converse, read, write, listen to the radio or watch television, until I unseal myself on September 29, 1979.

I shall have food everyday.

My friend, Cheng Wei Kuong, will facilitate this piece by taking charge of my food, clothing and refuse.

Sam Hseigh


Tehching Hsieh in his cell.
Photo: Cheng Wei Kuong

Is the begging man performing endurance art?
I want to know about him. But my own inhibitions stop me from doing so.
His style doesn’t necessarily lend for conversation.
Maybe that’s how he wants it to be.
May be he is saying some thing about us by our inability to engage with him.
Or he is pshycologically damaged and needs help.
Maybe it is his trade mark begging style.
May be is an artist.
Or is this him 'working' for his money - a hard days labour.
Is it displaced religious convictions playing out in a macabre way.
Maybe he is simply poor and just begging.
What do you all think?
Iam confused.

For other readings on performance endurance art please refer to

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/mar/19/art-marina-abramovic-moma
http://www.one-year-performance.com/

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

NSW PRIME MINISTER LAUNCHES PARRAMASALA ARTS FESTIVAL PROGRAMME




Parramasala - Australia's latest arts festival programme was launched in the historic suburb of Parramatta in Sydney on Monday 9 Ausgust 2010. Over a period of four days in November 2010, what it set to become Australia's largest South Asian Arts Festival, Parramasala will feature free live music concerts, theatre, dance, photography, film, club nights, a fair, sport and the stunning transformation of the streets of Parramatta. Artists from India,Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, UK and home grown talent will be on show.

Festival highlights include Nitin Swahney(UK-Music),Kailash Kher(India-Music),Twenty 20cricket match, Anadavalli(Australia/India/Sri Lanka-Dance),Popcorn Taxi(Film).

The prgramme was launched at the Roxy Hotel with NSW Prime Minister Kritina Keneally, various MPs, festival director Philip Rolfe and a host of other dignitaries present.
This is a major development in the Australia's arts scene and please check out the website for more information.

"http://www.parramasala.com"

Photos Courtsey of www.parramasala.com/Press

Monday, August 9, 2010

NATIVE MIGRANTS

This posting by the blogger first appeared in Koori Mail – Australia’s leading Aboriginal newspaper on 16 June 2010.


The weekend Australian (June 5-6 2010) reported on its front page the resettlement in the next few weeks of Sri Lankan and Afghan refugee families in Leonora, Koara country Western Australia.

Local Aboriginal leader Richard Evans whilst welcoming the new refugees expressed his displeasure that his community hasn’t been consulted and he will like to initiate a scheme to teach the new arrivals the culture and life of his peoples. The government department dealing with the refugees had told that his proposals shall be seriously considered. He further pointed out the inadequacy of housing and employment in the local Aboriginal population in the mining town.

I migrated to Australia seven months ago to join my sister who arrived as a skilled migrant over ten years ago and my parents as refugees in the last few years. I left Sri Lanka as an unaccompanied minor aged 15 and claimed asylum in the UK twenty years ago.

Since arriving in Australia, I have been trying to grapple and dissect my own past and my recent migration in relation to the traditional custodians of Australian lands. Though I am looking at these issues through the prism of my own experience, I hope it shall generally act as a catalyst to open some questions and create dialogue on matters of refugees, multiculturalism, new migration and the continuing historical wrongs and its repercussions on the Aboriginal peoples of Australia.

The Tamils traditional homelands were merged with the majority Sinhalese nations during the British colonial era to form a single entity. Since gaining independence from Britain in 1948, Tamils campaigned peacefully for equality and without any meaning-full solution decided to take up arms.
Whilst acknowledging some excesses of the Tamil armed struggle, over a year to date since the brutal crushing of the militants, the grievances of the Tamils haven’t still been addressed and the colonisation of Tamil lands has gained new momentum. This conflict lead many Tamils to flee and live world over.

With this history and acute awareness of injustices inflicted on my peoples I am beginning to wonder if any meaning full dialogue can be established regarding land rights and Aboriginal inequality whilst the places are being ‘colonised’ by new immigrants like my self. Temporary, permanent and citizens of Australia are continuing to benefit and profit from the racist agendas of nation building employed by the early migrants. The institutional and structural racism of Australia has and continues to directly and indirectly benefit us all when seeking opportunity and life in this land. What should the response be from refugees from all over the world who now claim Australia to be their home when some indigenous people themselves have applied for refugee status from the UN for being forcefully evicted from their lands?

Any mutual understanding between the new migrants, indigenous Australians and the rest might benefit from sharing the plight and conditions of inequality, marginalisation and suppression we left behind. Furthermore we should confront our own dark secrets on the plight of indigenous people of the lands where we have come from - whether fleeing persecution or seeking economic and life style betterment. For example, in Sri Lanka indigenous people have also been marginalised and often assimilated into the Sinhalese and Tamil communities without ever acknowledging the contributions these people have made in many aspects of Sri Lankan life.
Sinhala and Tamil politicians squabble over who came to the island ‘first’ two thousand years ago without considering the traditional custodians of the lands – Veddahs.

Gradients of colour based prejudices inherent in our societies ‘back home’ further accentuated by various European colonisations is further validated by white Australia and then played out on indigenous people.

Whilst many schemes have been adopted to bridge the gap between Australians and Aboriginal people, often in this matter, Australian has always been a code word for White/Anglo Australians. Whilst this being an important aspect of reconciliation how can multi cultural and refugee Australia create a partner ship with native people of the many lands within Australia? Often new migrants are over-whelmed by an alien culture and are busy trying to adjust to new ways of life and settle themselves as effortlessly as possible. They are concerned about raising families, supporting kith and kin from their home countries whilst dealing with the day-to-day concerns of life in general. But it is important that we find the necessary tools to let us new migrants to reflect and act with social conscience during our early formative periods in Australia, so that ingrained prejudices in society at large does dot seep in to our new lives which will cloud our view in later years.

Therefore I congratulate Richard Evans attempts and hope he finds the necessary support to fulfil his ambitions. We need more dialogue and action on an inter personal, community, governmental and organisational levels to address continuing migration to Australia and its relationship with Aboriginal Australia. I am still wondering how I can be part of this process.
Any ideas?