PLEASE JOIN US FOR A SPECIAL SCREENING OF A NEW DOCUMENTARY BY DIRECTOR
LALIT VACHANI
IN SEARCH OF GANDHI
THIS DOCUMENTARY WAS RECENTLY AIRED ON BBC AS PART OF THE “WHY DEMOCRACY” PROJECT
MEDIA EDUCATION FOUNDATION
COMMUNITY ROOM
60 MASONIC STREET
NORTHAMPTON, MA
WEDNESDAY
NOVEMBER 28th 7:00-9:00 pm
This screening will be followed by a discussion with the director.
Synopsis
In the early decades of the twentieth century, Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy of satyagraha inspired a mass movement of millions of Indians to rise up against the British colonial state and successfully agitate for the establishment of a democratic and free India. But what kind of a democracy does India have today? In road-movie style the film crew travels down the trail of Gandhi’s salt march, the remarkable mass campaign that galvanized ordinary Indians to join the non-violent struggle for democracy and freedom in 1930. Stopping at the same villages and cities where Gandhi and his followers had raised their call for independence, the film documents the stories of ordinary citizens in India today. Although inspired by a historical event, “In Search of Gandhi” is not a journey back in time. Instead it is a search for the present and future of democracy in India.
A Wide Eye Film (2007) for Steps International
(“Why Democracy” series)
For information on the “Why Democracy” project, see: http://www.whydemocracy.net
Director’s Biography
Lalit Vachani is a documentary filmmaker based in India and the US. He studied at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University, and at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania. His previous documentary films have been on the ’star system’ and the social worlds of the Hindi film industry ( The Academy, 1995; The Starmaker, 1997); on the ideology and politics of the RSS, the leading Hindu fundamentalist organization in India (The Boy in the Branch, 1993; The Men in the Tree, 2002); and on socialist street theater in India ( The Play Goes On, 2006).
THIS EVENT IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Paula Chakravartty
Associate Professor
Department of Communication
UMass Amherst
Filed under: "Why Democracy" Project, In Search of Gandhi, Lalit Vachini
