Red Deerians will get a taste of India as two Indian films, Take Off and Anatomy of Violence will be shown at the Welikoklad Event Centre Cinema as part of the India Film Festival of Alberta (IFFA).
Anatomy of Violence, which will be screened Aug. 17th, is a Canadian film, directed by Deepa Mehta, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her film Water.
“It premiered at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) last year, so it was all the rage in Toronto then, and it’s kind of like a documentary, but it’s actors coming to discuss violence against women and some of the things that are happening in India, but also that happen around the world right now,” said James Wilson, instructor with the Motion Picture Arts Program at Red Deer College.
Anatomy of Violence, according to the festival’s synopsis, uses improvisational techniques with the director and her group of actors trying to examine and analyze the causes leading up to a gang rape in Delhi in 2012, a case that made world-wide headlines.
Factors of poverty, the caste system and social values are looked at as they imagine what might have led the rapists to do what they did.
Take Off, also according to the festival’s synopsis, is inspired by a real-life rescue of Indian nurses who were stranded in Tikrit, Iraq, during the country’s civil war in 2014.
It is directed by Mahesh Narayan and follows the life of protagonist Sameera, a strong-willed nurse, who along with her husband, travels to Iraq for work.
ISIS militants soon take control of their hospital, and the question is will they make it out alive from the crisis?
The film will be screened on Aug. 18th.
Wilson said at Red Deer College, which is the owner of the Welikoklad Centre, they try to bring in unique programming for Red Deer and the students.
“The festival is run by a group called the Edmonton Movie Club and they bring in Indian Films, mostly to Edmonton, but they started expanding to Calgary and Fort McMurray, and so I said we should totally bring that to Red Deer.
“So starting in September every month we are going to bring one of these Indian films in,” said Wilson.
Those films will be shown the third Thursday of every month, and the Motion Picture Art students will be required to attend the screenings with discussions to take place in class about how the films are done.
Wilson said they did a test film back in May, and that there will be another one coming in January which he said is supposed to be a science fiction space film in India.
“It will be something different for Red Deer, but I think the community is really going to respond well to it. We’ve already had some good inquiries and turnout for the test screen in May, and I think it will do well for Red Deer.”
Tickets for Anatomy of Violence, taking place on Aug. 17th, are $12, while tickets for Take Off, screening on Aug. 18th are $15 (including a question and answer period with the director) or $30 for dinner and a movie, which also gets people a question and answer period with the director.
For tickets to the event, visit edmontonmovielcub.eventbrite.com.
