A show to inspire youth & create awareness

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 31

The two-day documentary film festival organised by the Department of Mass Communication and Talkies Club of Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), in collaboration with Majha House and India Foundation of Arts (IFA), on the varsity campus concluded on Saturday. 

As many as 10 films on various issues were screened to inspire youth and create awareness.  Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar Shivdular Singh Dhillion was the chief guest at the valedictory session of the festival. Preeti Gill, founder of Majha House, Dr Jasmeet Nayyar, former director of Higher Education, and Dr Venus Singh Mithu, mentor of GNDU Talkies, presented a vote of thanks. The festival was formally inaugurated by Vice-chancellor Prof Jaspal Singh Sandhu. 

The concluding day witnessed screenings of Kumar Talkies’’ by Pankaj Rishi Kumar; ‘The Nine Months’ by Merajur Rahman Baruah; ‘I, Dance’ by Sonya Fatah and Rajiv Rao; ‘Pala’ by Gurvinder Singh; and ‘Common Task’ by Pallavi Paul. 

The highlight of the day were films ‘I, Dance’, a documentary on a classical dance of Pakistan, primarily through the lens of Sheema Kermani, one of the country’s known classical dancers and the movie ‘Pala’ by Gurwinder Singh. A common thread that binds the two stories is the subject they deal with – the rapidly declining traditions of performing arts amidst the social, political and legal code. While ‘I, Dance’ showcased the struggle of women classical dancers in Pakistan against the backdrop of militarisation, ‘Pala’ takes audience through the journey of Pala Singh, a noted Sufi balladeer, who belongs to Sufi religion and not that defined by man. 

‘Pala’ was filmmaker Gurwinder Singh’s first documentary that he made decade ago, while travelling extensively through Punjab. The film is a profile of Pala Singh, one of the noted folk artists of Punjab. It deals with the diversity of the centuries-old musical tradition, of which he is a part but which is on rapid decline. Pala claims to belong to no particular faith and can transform himself and his musical talent with ease to suit the needs of the place where he is performing. What he represents is a kind of folk religion, which has assimilated the traits of all three principal faiths of Punjab, namely Hinduism, Sikhism and Islam.

Gurwinder’s best-known works after Pala are ‘Anhe Ghore Da Daan’, which received national award in 2012 and ‘Chauthi Koot’, which was showcased at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in 2015. 

The other films notably Nine Months, was about the travelling theatres in Assam. These mobile theatres are the lifelines of regions’ folk legacy. The film captures the experience and perspectives of its promoters, directors, actors, technicians, and stagehands and documents the impact of globalisation on its practice.