RED ANT DREAM (2013) by Sanjay Kak

‘Let us declare that the state of war does exist and shall exist’, the revolutionary patriot had said almost a hundred years ago, and that forewarning travels into India’s present, as armed insurrection simmers in Bastar, in the troubled heart of central India. To the east too, beleagured adivasis from the mineral-rich hills of Odisha come forth bearing their axes, and their songs. And in the north the swelling protests by Punjabi peasants sees hope coagulate–once more–around that iconic figure of Bhagat Singh, revolutionary martyr of the anti-colonial struggle. But are revolutions even possible anymore? Or have those dreams been ground down into our nightmares? This is a chronicle of those who live the revolutionary ideal in India, a rare encounter with the invisible domain of those whose everyday is a fight for another ideal of the world. Red Ant Dream is the third in a cycle of films that interrogate the workings of Indian democracy, and follows Jashn-e-Azadi (2007) about the idea of freedom for Kashmir, and Words on Water (2002) about the people’s movement against large dams in the Narmada valley.

Film Screening and discussion with filmmaker
December 6, 2013
4:30-7:30pm
CUNY Graduate Center, Room C202/203

Red Ant Dream (running time: 2 hours) is in English, Gondi, Odiya and Punjabi (with English subtitles). The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with Sanjay Kak.

SANJAY KAK is an independent documentary film-maker whose previous films, include Jashn-e-Azadi (How We Celebrate Freedom, 2007), Words on Water (2002, Best Long Film prize at the international Festival of Environment Film & Video, Brazil), and In the Forests Hangs a Bridge (1999, Golden Lotus Best Documentary Film National Film Awards, India, and Asian Gaze Award, Pusan Short Film Festival, Korea).

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http://redantdream.com

This event is cosponsored by the Center for Place,  Culture and Politics and the Advanced Research Collaborative at the Graduate Center, and South Asian Solidarity Initiative (SASI).