Workers' Film Festival, Madurai

Workers’ Film Festival, Madurai 

14 May, Sunday / 11 am to 8 pm / MUTA Hall

Curated by Amudhan R.P.

Schedule 

11 am 

Inauguration 

11.30 

Kutty Japanin Kuzhandaigal 

Dir: Chalam Bennurkar; 60 min; Tamil with Eng subtitles; 1990

Sivakasi is a small town in Southern Tamilnadu. It is from here and the surrounding villages that 70% of the requirements of the match box industry and 90% of the fireworks industry are produced. 

The film is an attempt to portray the dailiness of their, the production process and the complex socio-political reasons that contribute to such a large employment of children in this area.

12.30 Interaction 

1 pm Lunch break

2 pm 

21 hours 

Dir : Sunitha CV; 28 min; Malayalam with Eng subtitles; 2020

This documentary film records the life of Rajamma, a woman fish vendor in Trivandrum, Kerala, who travels daily to Thoothukudy harbour 200 km away to procure fish and sell it back in her hometown. It highlights the struggle and strength of unorganised working women, who survive because of sheer grit, in spite of overwhelming odds. 

Kaggantu

Dir: Ujjwal Utkarsh; 20 min; Kannada with Eng subtitles; 2019

The Bangalore garment industry which works as the outsourced factories for a lot of multinational brands hire around 5 lakh women workers. The film revolves around two such women's lives and the problems they face due to lack of adequate facilities at the factories.

Butterfly Stand Still 

Dir: Suma Josson; 20 min; Hindi with Eng subtitles; 2011 

It is a portrayal of a 55-year-old woman who has modelled for art students and artists for 30 years.

3.15 Interaction 

3.30 pm 

Shramjeevi

Dir: Tarun Bhartiya; 43.50 min; Hindi with Eng subtitles; 2020

SHRAMJEEVI narrates the hopes and tragedies of the working class lives in Kapasehra village, one of the largest settlements of migrant workers in India. 

In Search of Gold - a portrait of Kolar Gold Fields

Dir : Basav Biradar; 34.43 min; Tamil, Kannada, English; 2021

Set in the once thriving colonial gold mining township of Kolar Gold Fields (KGF), IN SEARCH OF GOLD attempts to understand the different lived and remembered histories of people who built this highly profitable enterprise. Aided by the grim imagery of now defunct mining operations, the film brings together narratives of collective socio-political struggles of the past, nostalgia for lost privilege, and the anxiety of an uncertain future, of a fragmented society.

4.55 Interaction 

5.15 Tea break

5.30 pm Mannu : Sprouts of Endurance 

Dir: Ramdas Kadavallur ; 113 min; Malayalam, Tamil; 2020

The film chronicles the encroachment of vast stretches of a hilly land, the eviction of its rightful owners, the blatant exploitation of the laborers and their struggle for existence. It does not confine itself in narrating the evolution and impact of a labor struggle, but also focuses on another important social aspect in India, the significance of caste, the strangle hold it exerts on the psyche of the nation. 

The documentary holds its mirror to the dichotomy of underlying neglect and discrimination meted out to the hapless people belonging to the lower echelons of society. It explores the ruthless impact of policies on the ‘land’ and ‘soil’, its uneven distribution and the resultant irreparable and long standing damage it causes to the environment and fragile terrain, which is abound with precious flora and fauna. 

7.30 pm Interaction and Closing remarks