Inaugurating the 8th Patna film festival “Cinema of Resistance” organized by Hirawal, Jan Sanskriti Manch, and The Group on 4 December, distinguished scientist, film-maker and poet Gauhar Raza reminded people of the historical links between war-mongering and the rise of fascism in Europe. He pointed out that war, whether it is on the border or at the banks, always inflicts suffering on the poor only.
Earlier, Bihar’s well-known theatre director Kunal said that the culture of questioning, dissent, and criticism is essential to defend humanity. “Cinema of Resistance” is a step in this direction. Present on the dais at the inauguration were anti-nuclear activist Kumar Sundaram, senior journalist Manikant Thakur, Prof Santosh Kumar, Prof Bharti S Kumar, poet Pratibha Verma and ‘Filhal’ Editor Priti Sinha. JSM Bihar Secretary Com. Sudhir Suman began the proceedings of the festival with tributes to Fidel Castro and Polish film-maker Andrzej Witold Wajda and condolences to those who lost their lives due to demonetization and the recent rail accident and the soldiers killed in the Nagrota attack.
The films screened at the festival gave the message of opposition to war and struggle for peace: Gauhar Raza’s documentary ‘Inquilab’; Anand Patwardhan’s ‘Jung Aur Aman’; ‘Fidel—the Untold Story’ based on Castro’s life; ‘Come and See’ portraying the times of Nazi Germany’s capture of Belaruse and the use of Mozart’s music for war-mongering; Vijay Raj’s ‘Kya Dilli, Kya Lahore’; Ashwini Kumar’s ‘Little Terrorist’; Bahman Ghobdi’s Persian language film ‘Turtles can Lie’; Sabira Samar’s ‘Khamosh Pani’; Japanese animation film ‘Grave of the Fireflies’; French director Alain Resnais’ documentary ‘Night and Fog’; and Nagraj Manjule’s Marathi feature film ‘Sairat’. The festival opposed war-mongering through other media also, such as art and painting, music, and dance.
