In association with the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival (18 – 27 March) ActionAid is pleased to present Firaaq, Nandita Das’s layered and diverse look at the impact of communal violence in Gujarat; and the UK premiere of Gabriela and Sally Gutierrez Dewar’s Tapologo.
FIRAAQ
FIRAAQ begins in 2002 in the Indian state of Gujarat, where three thousand Muslims died in communal riots. When Muslims Hanif and Muneera return to the modest home they had fled during the violence, they find it ransacked. With their lives shattered not simply by vandalism but by betrayal from their neighbours, Hanif seeks revenge. Elsewhere, middleclass Hindus Sanjay and Arati were untouched by the hostilities, but are met with new moral challenges. Serene older musician Khan Saheb (Naseeruddin Shah) has tried to transcend religious differences, but as a Muslim living in a Hindu neighbourhood, he now finds this stance more complicated. At the same time, Anu and Sameer, a mixed-marriage couple finally face the tensions they have long suppressed. Nandita Das expertly interweaves these stories over one 24-hour period, as characters of both faiths and from many levels of society grapple with the new, post-violence reality.
ICA: Wednesday 25 March, 21.00
Ritzy: Thursday 26 March, 21.30
TAPOLOGO (UK premiere)
The impact of South Africa’s unprecedented mining boom on the labour camps that support the industry is told through the brutal realities facing women in these communities. Freedom Park squatter camp, situated in the Northwest province, accommodates a migrant workforce that mines the world’s largest single source of platinum. The women in this community service the needs of the male miners as a means of basic survival. A group of HIV-infected former sex-workers have created a network called Tapologo and have learnt to be home based care-workers, transforming degradation into solidarity and squalor into hope. As we learn each woman’s story, we come to understand how she herself was transformed—from someone who had lost hope into someone who decided to help others in the same situation. An inspiring and emotional tale, TAPOLOGO shows how one’s own experience is often the best source of help for others.
ICA: Sunday 22 March, 16.00
Ritzy: Saturday 21 March, 16.00