[WSMDiscuss] Watch 'Narmada: A Valley Rises' at https://vimeo.com/414382390 by Sunday noon IST

[Jai Sen]

Friday, May 8, 2020

Resistance in movement…, India in movement…, Movements in movement…

[Most but perhaps not everyone on this list will know of ‘the Narmada movement’, around big dams across the Narmada River in western India, that started in the 1980s and in its time became iconic of resistance against destructive development and as a voice for alternative ways of looking at the world… and where ‘the movement’ was not only within India but became the issue around which one of the first international coalition of resistance and alternatives was formed, from the 1980s onwards, and that in turn inspired and was inspired by movements across the world. (To see it in the singular though, is in fact a misnomer, insofar as there have in fact been something like ten streams of resistance and movement around the dams from when the dam was first proposed, back in the early 1960s; but where one has come to be especially well known, the one led by the Narmada Bachao Andolan (‘Save the Narmada Movement’).)

[Here is an offer to watch one of the classic (and early) documentaries around the NBA’s struggles; available till this Sunday at noon (Indian Standard Time, I would assume).

[Thanks deepani, for letting me know about this.  In homage to rivers – and to rivers of movement - that rise and inspire us all, and with thanks to Vikalp at Prithvi for offering this to us all, and to the filmmaker Ali Kazimi for making this film; and in solidarity with the NBA – which remains in struggle and on fast today, as I write this :

Watch 'Narmada: A Valley Rises'

at https://vimeo.com/414382390 <https://vimeo.com/414382390> by Sunday noon*

Vikalp at Prithvi



Vikalp at Prithvi - Online Screenings - Week 2

*Watch 'Narmada: A Valley Rises' at https://vimeo.com/414382390 <https://vimeo.com/414382390> by Sunday noon.*

Ask questions to director Ali Kazimi at https://bit.ly/2WbOvKp <https://bit.ly/2WbOvKp> or by email to vikalpscreenings at gmail.com <mailto:vikalpscreenings at gmail.com>.

About the Film:

In December 1990, the largest and longest sustained non-violent action by the Narmada Bachao Andolan took place: a 200 km march to the Sardar Sarovar dam site. The dam threatened to affect the lives of or displace over 300,000 people. The protests led to an unprecedented independent review of the building of the dam by the World Bank. Award-winning filmmaker Ali Kazimi had unparalleled access throughout this 5-week long mass action. The film draws its viewers into the unfolding drama of the growing strength of the movement, as well the state repression faced by the protestors. This happens to be the only feature length documentary scored by academy award-winning composer, Mychael Danna (Life of Pi).

'Narmada: A Valley Rises' received standing ovations at its premiere in 1994 at Toronto International Film Festival and went on to garner several awards including Best Director, Best Political Film, Hot Docs Canadian International Film Festival; Golden Gate Award, San Francisco International Film Festival; Gold Plaque, Chicago International Film Festival and the Silver Conch, Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF).

“Polished beyond its low-budget means, this film stands in the best tradition of committed filmmaking. For anyone worn down or cynical about social struggle, Narmada shows how it can be both effective and inspiring. Like most successful recent documentaries, Narmada builds a narrative and introduces characters that carry an audience through a complex thicket of issues.” – Cameron Bailey, Now Magazine, Canada

“In a brilliant, moving depiction of anger and discontent the inhabitants of the valley come to life in their struggle against a perverse, warped concept of development.” – Sunday Magazine, India

“The strength of Kazimi’s documentation does not lie in the dehumanising objectivity of a statistician. It lies in the filmmaker’s commitment to humanism which makes the documentary not a transient social statement but a work of art which transcends time.” – The Hindu, India


____________________________

Jai Sen

Independent researcher, editor; Senior Fellow at the School of International Development and Globalisation Studies at the University of Ottawa

jai.sen at cacim.net <mailto:jai.sen at cacim.net>
Now based in New Delhi, India (+91-98189 11325) and in Ottawa, Canada, on unceded and unsurrendered Anishinaabe territory (+1-613-282 2900) 

CURRENT / RECENT publications :

Jai Sen, ed, 2018a – The Movements of Movements, Part 2 : Rethinking Our Dance. Ebook and hard copy available at PM Press <http://www.pmpress.org/>
Jai Sen, ed, 2018b – The Movements of Movements, Part 1 : What Makes Us Move ? (Indian edition). New Delhi : AuthorsUpfront, in collaboration with OpenWord and PM Press.  Hard copy available at MOM1AmazonIN <https://www.amazon.in/dp/9387280101/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1522884070&sr=8-2&keywords=movements+of+movements+jai+sen>, MOM1Flipkart <https://www.flipkart.com/the-movements-of-movements/p/itmf3zg7h79ecpgj?pid=9789387280106&lid=LSTBOK9789387280106NBA1CH&marketplace=FLIPKART&srno=s_1_1&otracker=search&fm=SEARCH&iid=ff35b702-e6a8-4423-b014-16c84f6f0092.9789387280106.SEARCH&ppt=Search%20Page>, and MOM1AUpFront <http://www.authorsupfront.com/movements.htm>
Jai Sen, ed, 2017 – The Movements of Movements, Part 1 : What Makes Us Move ?.  New Delhi : OpenWord and Oakland, CA : PM Press.  Ebook and hard copy available at PM Press <http://www.pmpress.org/>
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