Indian films at Wesleyan, Sat. Apr. 21 & 28

PHOOLAN DEVI AND THE ROOTS OF INDIAN RAGE

This series explores issues surrounding Phoolan Devi (a.k.a. the “Bandit Queen”) who rose to fame as an outlaw in the rugged landscape of Bundelkhand in central/north India in the 1970s. She surrendered to the authorities in 1983 and was released from prison in 1994. She was elected to parliament in 1996, reelected in 1999, and assassinated in 2001.

Two more films are upcoming in this series:

PATHER PANCHALI

(India, 1955), directed by Satyajit Ray. Music by Ravi Shankar. Acclaimed drama about a young girl, Durga, and her family’s village life.

SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 2012, 2 P.M.

EYES OF STONE

(India, 1989), directed by Nilita Vachani. Documentary about demonic possession and goddess temples. 

Ms. Vachani will introduce her film.

SATURDAY, APRIL 28, 2012, 2 P.M.

ALL SCREENINGS AT THE CENTER FOR FILM STUDIES, WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY.

A panel discussion will follow each film. 

FREE ADMISSION.

For more information about the Phoolan Devi Opera Project, go to: phoolandeviopera.com.

Sponsored by the Baldwin University Lectures, the Middletown Commission on the Arts, the Film Studies Department, the History Department, jeffhushyoga.com.

This film series is part of the Phoolan Devi Opera Project. Phoolan  Devi,  a  new  raw  untouchable  opera,  will  have  its  first  staging  on  May  12,  2012  at  8pm  in  South  Church  in  Middletown,  CT.  The  composer  is  Gayathri  Khemadasa,  from  Sri   Lanka,  currently  a  Fulbright  scholar  at  Wesleyan  University.  Jeff  Hush,  a  former   Shakespeare  scholar  from  UC  Berkeley  and  the  University  of  Chicago,  is  writing  the  libretto   and  producing  the  opera  (with  Darren  Large).  They  have  created  a  Phoolan  Devi  Opera   Project  team  in  a  house  in  Middletown,  bringing  together  artists  from  the  UK,  Canada,   Mexico,  the  US  and  Sri  Lanka.