With the aim of sensitising men and women about gender related issues and providing a platform for healthy conversations on gender diversity, the Mumbai-based Men against Violence and Abuse (MAVA) is organising a two-day film festival, Sambhava, on November 10 and 11 in the city. Held in association with Jain University, the festival will feature 17 national and international short films, documentaries and feature films on gender.
The screening is part of the travelling festival being organised by MAVA, which for the last 25 years has been trying to bring about a change in mindset and break stereotypes.
“We have been trying to start conversations around gender issues through various methods, including conducting discussion forums, street plays and folk songs. But films are a more powerful means of reaching out to people. We have been wanting to organise a festival for the last two years. We started by going to a few colleges in Mumbai. Based on the good response, we decided to take the festival to other parts of the country,” said Harish Sadani, co-founder and chief functionary of MAVA.
The festival is being supported and funded by the Canadian embassy’s Canada Fund for Local Initiatives. Each film screening will be followed by a brief discussion.
Independent journalist and author Ammu Joseph, psychiatrist Shekhar Seshadri and gender rights activists Vinay Chandran, Shilok Mukatti and Priyanka Divaakar will lead the discussions.
“We have also chosen films in Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Malayalam. We have a good mix of films made by acclaimed filmmakers and students,” Mr. Sadani said.
The festival is open to all.
Sambhava
When: November 10 and 11
Where: Jain University, School of Commerce auditorium, 9th Block, Jayanagar
Time: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Movies
Khule aasman ke niche : School of Media and Cultural Studies, TISS
Walking the Walk (Telugu): Moses Tulasi
Majma : Rahul Roy
I am Noojam, Age 10 and divorced (Yemen) : Khadija Al-Salami
Mina walking (Afghanistan): Yosef Baraki
