The Trauma of Partition

2015 ◽  
pp. 69-86
Author(s):  
Omar Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Historical Context ◽  
Art Cinema ◽  
Indian Cinema ◽  
Unique Position ◽  
Film Maker ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Satyajit Ray ◽  
Indian Art

This chapter shifts the focus to Indian art cinema with the Marxist work of Bengali director and iconoclast Ritwik Ghatak. The impressive Meghe Dhaka Tara (The Cloud Capped Star, 1960) is his best-known film. Dealing directly with the trauma of partition and its effects on a Bengali family, Ghatak's cinema is bold, uncompromising, and occupies a unique position in Indian cinema. Although his work is still somewhat overshadowed by that of Satyajit Ray, another masterful Bengali film-maker, and though many of his films are still sadly unavailable on DVD in the UK, Megha Dhaka Tara is now recognised as one of the key works of Indian art cinema. The chapter discusses numerous aspects, including Ghatak's position as a film-maker; the wider historical context such as the partition of Bengal; the relationship between melodrama and feminist concerns; the film's categorisation as an example of 1960s counter cinema; and the thematic importance of the family to the film's narrative.

Sound and the masters: The aural in Indian art cinema

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-66
Author(s):  
Indranil Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Textual Analysis ◽  
The Other ◽  
Sound Recording ◽  
Art Cinema ◽  
Indian Cinema ◽  
Contested Terrain ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
Previous Scholarship ◽  
Satyajit Ray ◽  
Indian Art

The study of art cinema has emerged as a richly discursive, but, at the same time, a deeply contested terrain in recent film scholarship. This article examines the discourse of art cinema in India through the prism of sound style and aesthetics. It analyses the sonic strategies deployed in the films of Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen and Mani Kaul, in order to identify the dominant stylistic impulses of sound in art cinema, ranging from Brechtian epic realism on one hand to Indian aesthetic theories on the other. Locating sound as a key element in the discourse of art cinema, the article surveys the different modes through which aesthetic philosophies were translated into formal strategies of sound recording, designing and mixing. Using previous scholarship on art cinema in India as the point of departure, this study combines theoretically informed textual analysis with new historical insights on Indian cinema.

Parallel Voices

2015 ◽  
pp. 127-144
Author(s):  
Omar Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Major Part ◽  
Art Cinema ◽  
Film And Television ◽  
Indian Cinema ◽  
Film Maker ◽  
Film Making ◽  
Indian Art

This chapter assesses Shyam Benegal's seminal Ankur (The Seedling, 1972). The emergence of state-sponsored film-making in the late 1960s with Mrinal Sen's Bhuvan Shome (1969) laid the foundations for a new cinematic discourse, giving way to the next phase in the development of Indian art cinema, dubbed by many as ‘parallel cinema’. The work of film-maker Shyam Benegal forms a major part of the parallel cinema movement, and the rural trilogy of films characterising his early work not only sympathised with the oppressed underclass but also established an influential political precedent for many of the young film-makers emerging from the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India. The chapter looks at the origins and context of New Indian cinema, as well as the definitions of parallel cinema and its importance to the development of art cinema. It also considers Shyam Benegal's authorial status, key ideological strands, and the film's role in helping to politicise cinema in India.

Neo-realist Aesthetics

2015 ◽  
pp. 33-50
Author(s):  
Omar Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Art Cinema ◽  
Indian Cinema ◽  
Film Maker ◽  
Satyajit Ray

This chapter examines the neo-realist masterpiece Do Bigha Zamin (Two Acres of Land, 1953) directed by Bengali film-maker Bimal Roy. Prior to the emergence of a distinctive art cinema led by Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak, the aesthetics and ideologies of neo-realism as a distinctive cinematic approach were reflected sporadically in the socialist agenda of films such as Do Bigha Zamin. While Ghatak was busy filming his first film, Nagarik (The Citizen, 1952), and Ray was still struggling with the first part of The Apu Trilogy, it was Bimal Roy, a film-maker now considered part of populist cinema, who made the earliest attempt to integrate neo-realist aesthetics into the framework of a mainstream project. The chapter considers the state of Indian cinema before the emergence of neo-realism; the influence of the IPTA (Indian People's Theatre Association); Bimal Roy as a film-maker; and the wider context including the Bengal famine of 1943–44. It also looks at Balraj Sahni's status as one of Indian cinema's first method actors; the links to Italian neo-realist classics such as Bicycle Thieves (1948); and, finally, the various Marxist ideologies that underpin such a despairing narrative.

Archaeologists and the Dead

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Historical Context ◽  
Ethical Considerations ◽  
International Context ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Dead ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Experience Effect

This volume addresses the relationship between archaeologists and the dead, through the many dimensions of their relationships: in the field (through practical and legal issues), in the lab (through their analysis and interpretation), and in their written, visual and exhibitionary practice--disseminated to a variety of academic and public audiences. Written from a variety of perspectives, its authors address the experience, effect, ethical considerations, and cultural politics of working with mortuary archaeology. Whilst some papers reflect institutional or organizational approaches, others are more personal in their view: creating exciting and frank insights into contemporary issues that have hitherto often remained "unspoken" among the discipline. Reframing funerary archaeologists as "death-workers" of a kind, the contributors reflect on their own experience to provide both guidance and inspiration to future practitioners, arguing strongly that we have a central role to play in engaging the public with themes of mortality and commemoration, through the lens of the past. Spurred by the recent debates in the UK, papers from Scandinavia, Austria, Italy, the US, and the mid-Atlantic, frame these issues within a much wider international context that highlights the importance of cultural and historical context in which this work takes place.

Scotland at Westminster

2020 ◽  
pp. 583-601
Author(s):  
Adam Evans
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Party System ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Institutional Representation ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Scottish Politics

Since the Treaty and Acts of Union in 1707, Scotland has returned MPs to Westminster. Whilst dwarfed, at least demographically by its partner in that Union, England, Scotland has, on a number of occasions, punched above its weight at the Centre—most notably at either end of the twentieth century when Liberalism and then Labour dominated Scottish politics. This chapter examines the relationship of Scotland with the UK Parliament. It begins by placing this relationship in its historical context, before then turning to an audit of contemporary Scottish influence and representation at Westminster, post-devolution. This chapter does this by breaking down two of the main and interconnected dimensions of Scottish representation at Westminster: (1) Scottish parliamentarians and the Westminster party system; and (2) institutional representation within Parliament. This latter category includes both Scottish-specific institutional mechanisms, such as the Scottish Affairs Committee and the Scottish Grand Committee, and the broader Westminster apparatus that can be leveraged for influence, such as parliamentary question times.

Understanding the audience: Purbeck Folk Festival

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Robyn Pilcher ◽  
Nick Eade
Keyword(s):  
Research Process ◽  
Family Type ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Family ◽  
Potential Difficulty ◽  
Quota Sampling ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

Purpose – Despite the ongoing research into visitor motivation in the live events and tourism industries, only a limited amount of research has examined the motivational factors exhibited in individual segments of society. The purpose of this paper was to identify a relationship between visitor demographics and visitor motivation, for the purpose of enhanced market research at folk festivals in the UK. Design/methodology/approach – In this research, a qualitative study of visitor demographics and their accompanying motivation to attend Purbeck Folk Festival is reported. The study was conducted in the form of interviews, which investigated the underlying motivation behind visitor attendance to Purbeck Folk Festival in 2014. The research process, guided by the literature of Robson (2011) and Bryman (2012), aimed to establish the extent to which visitor demographics did or did not impact visitor motivation to attend the event. Findings – The study revealed five motivational dimensions, and from this devised five core audience segments including: the escapists, the socialites, the family type, the experience seekers and the folkniks. This study highlights the correlation between visitor demographics and visitor motivation and suggests further applications of this research and similar research in the field of live events. The study contributes an insight into the audience of Purbeck Folk Festival and may be used to provide an understanding of audience profile and behaviour at folk festivals within the UK. Research limitations/implications – Due to the nature of the research, participants will be secured through non-probability quota sampling, which is a method of convenience. This approach may place limitations on the validity of the findings, as researcher bias may occur when selecting participants, for example, avoiding visitors who look intimidating or abnormal (Robson, 2011). The use of open-ended questions in the capacity of a greenfield event was identified as a potential difficulty, as participants are required to think about their answers and provide opinions, unlike a closed question method, which although quicker and easier, may not be as effective (Kumar, 2014). Therefore, to keep participants engaged and willing to provide further information, the interview design was kept short and questions are easily comprehendible. Originality/value – The research study reflects early the work of Mayo (Dickson, 1973), Maslow (1954) and Herzberg (1966), and builds on more recent literature by Kruger and Saayman (2012), which analysed the relationship between audience profile and motivation to attend.

scholarly journals Follow the yellow brick road: The passeur , the gatekeeper and the young migrant film-maker

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Hemelryk Donald
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Film Maker ◽  
Film Education ◽  
World Cinema ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Film Making ◽  
The Relationship

In the first part of this article, the author reflects on her experience of making filmmaking workshops with young people in Australia, China and the UK an integral component of a research project on the representation of child migrants and refugees in world cinema. She then sets her approach to these workshops in the context of Alain Bergala's ideas about film education, of which she had initially been unaware. In discussing a couple of further workshops that she ran in the UK and Australia as part of the 'Cinéma, cent ans de jeunesse' programme, she focuses particularly on the benign or obstructive role of institutional gatekeepers , who act as intermediaries or agents determining the terms of access to children and young people for film educators, researchers and practitioners. The legal, protective and ethical dimensions of the relationship between educator, gatekeeper and participating students are discussed. The article cites cases in which the interaction worked well, and others in which it proved problematic. The functions, responsibilities and potential drawbacks of gatekeepers are compared with Bergala's conception of the pedagogic role of the passeur – a figure who also holds power in relation to young people's access to film and film-making, but one that connotes positive, even magical, properties.

Feminist Concerns

2015 ◽  
pp. 87-106
Author(s):  
Omar Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Source Material ◽  
Film Festivals ◽  
Gender Representations ◽  
Rabindranath Tagore ◽  
Narrative Style ◽  
Indian Cinema ◽  
Film Maker ◽  
Bengal Renaissance ◽  
Central Characters ◽  
Satyajit Ray

This chapter surveys the career and legacy of Indian cinema's greatest film-maker, Satyajit Ray. If Raj Kapoor can be credited with popularising Indian cinema around the globe, then Satyajit Ray can certainly lay claim to bringing a measure of artistic credibility and sincerity to Indian cinema. Choosing a favourite Ray film was a tricky proposition given the consistency he maintained as a film-maker over four decades. He may have built his reputation on the Apu trilogy, winning major awards at film festivals, but his lifelong fascination with Bengali novelist Rabindranath Tagore provided the source material for some of his finest and most complex works. Charulata (The Lonely Wife, 1964) forms the focus for the chapter, which covers the Bengal renaissance, Satyajit Ray's status as an auteur, gender representations in the films of Ray, camera and narrative style, the relationships between the three central characters, political undercurrents, and the film's portrayal of married life in the Bengali middle class.

Studying Indian Cinema

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omar Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Media Studies ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Historical Evolution ◽  
Indian Cinema ◽  
Mira Nair ◽  
Mise En Scene ◽  
Film And Media Studies ◽  
Satyajit Ray

This book traces the historical evolution of Indian cinema through a number of key decades. The book is made up of 14 chapters with each chapter focusing on one key film, the chosen films are analysed in their wider social, political and historical context whilst a concerted engagement with various ideological strands that underpin each film is also evident. In addition to exploring the films in their wider contexts, the book analyses selected sequences through the conceptual framework common to both film and media studies. This includes a consideration of narrative, genre, representation, audience and mise en scène. The case studies run chronologically from Awaara (The Vagabond, 1951) to The Elements Trilogy: Water (2005) and include films by such key figures as Satyajit Ray (The Lonely Wife), Ritwick Ghatak (Cloud Capped Star), Yash Chopra (The Wall) and Mira Nair (Salaam Bombay!).

Representing Terrorism

2015 ◽  
pp. 183-200
Author(s):  
Omar Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Film Industry ◽  
Urban Violence ◽  
Indian Cinema ◽  
The Third ◽  
Box Office ◽  
Tamil Cinema ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Film Making ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter explores Mani Ratnam's 1998 film Dil Se (From the Heart) to engage critically with changing representations of terrorism in contemporary Indian cinema. Mani Ratnam is recognised by many critics and the Indian film industry as one of its finest and most commercially successful film-makers. Dil Se was Ratnam's first Hindi film and the third part in a loose trilogy of films dealing with the relationship between nationalism, terrorism, and urban violence. The chapter then looks at regional film-making in India, particularly Tamil cinema. It also considers Mani Ratnam's concerns as an auteur, the music of Dil Se and composer A.R. Rahman, and perhaps most importantly, the impact the film had at the UK box office with the Non-Resident Indian (NRI) audience.

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