PRACTICAL INFORMATION:
The screening will take place tomorrow the 20th of November at Bubblan, Fiskhamnsgatan 41B Kajskjul 46, Göteborg. The screening will start at 7 pm (19:00) and the venue will open at 6 pm (18:00). We will serve some food for reasonable price. The number of seats is limited so be sure to book by sending an email to: kuf.kontakt@gmail.com
Entrance fee is 60 SEK for film club members only: register to the club by leaving your name and email directly at the door, or through mail when you book your seat.
Here you can find the Facebook event.
Don’t forget to like us on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram. Also, the culture association Kuf has a You Tube Channel where you can find concerts and live performances from our lovely venue. And you are welcome to subscribe to the newsletter to get all updates directly in your inbox.
Welcome for this screening of a very unique and seldom seen Indian film, part of the current known as Indian Parallel Cinema. We intend to show this little gem to keep honoring our commitment to highlight art-house world-cinema.
Unfortunately, we have been unable to prepare an articulated newsletter this time and we would like to simply refer to Bologna’s Il Cinema Ritrovato film festival’s film notes to introduce the screening.
“Kumar Shahani is one of the most eloquent and influential of contemporary Indian filmmakers. Widely known for having developed an ‘epic idiom’ and for his unique visual explorations of the arts, Kumar Shahani’s first feature Maya Darpan (1972) was regarded as India’s first formalist film, attracting comparison with Pier Paolo Pasolini, Andrei Tarkovsky and Jacques Rivette among others. Shahani’s cinema was deeply influenced by Ritwik Ghatak (his professor and mentor at the Film Institute in Pune) and Robert Bresson, who took him on the set of Une femme douce (1969) while living in Paris. Politically active in the May 1968 movements, Shahani later investigated questions of nationalism and the impact of capitalism on both feudal/patriarchal systems and the Left movement.
His third feature-length film, Khayal Ghata explores the vocal tradition of the ‘Khayal’, a form of classical music established in the 18th century. By emphasising sequence rather than discrete notes or the rhythmic cycle, Khayal was often based on improvisation thus remaining free to assimilate the widest range of the musical elements from as far as Central Asia, Turkey and Persia. The film is presented in an abstract format, where a music student (Rajat Kapoor, in his acting debut) listens to stories and legends about the birth and evolution of the Khayal form of classical Indian singing. These stories are re-enacted by actors Kapoor, Mangal Dhillon and Mita Vasisht, who play several key figures from the history of classical music. The result is a visually stunning narration condensing legend, history and poetry, emphasising hybridity in all cultural practices.”
For more reading we would like to recommend:
Richard I. Suchenski (2017), Mythic and Modern: The Aesthetics of Space in the Films of Mani Kaul and Kumar Shahani. Positions, 25:1
Dossier on Kimar Shahani (1986) - Framework journal 30/31
Kumar Shahani (1990) - Film as a Contemporary Art. Social Scientist, Vol. 18. No. 3
We look forward to see you at Bubblan tomorrow!