UH 300 - WSUV Honor's Film & Lecture series
Beyond Bollywood: Social Films, Transnational Directors, Indian Scenarios
“When the political terrain can neither resolve nor suppress inequality, it erupts in culture. Because culture is the contemporary repository of memory, of history, it is through culture, rather than government, that alternative forms of subjectivity, collectivity, and public life are imagined.” - Lisa Lowe
In this honor’s film and lecture series, we will engage in a dialogue about films made in English by Indians who live in India or are part of diasporic communities in the United States and Britain. Thanks to globalized markets, Indian films are not totally unheard of, but Bollywood or films made in Hindi from Mumbai dominate the discourse. This course shifts the discourse beyond Bollywood to look at films by directors who are engaging in conversations about social, cultural, political and economic issues through cinema.
Readings handed out in class.
Intro Lecture: "A reflection in the water: confronting gender & political issues of India through cinema"
Film: Deepa Mehta's Water
Talk by Dr. Jigna Desai, Asst. Professor, University of Minnesota
"From Blackpool to Bollywood: British Asian Feminism in Bhaji on the Beach"
Film: Gurinder Chadha's Bhaji on the Beach
Talk by Dr. Kumi Silva, Asst. Professor, Northeastern University, Boston
"Four days, Five stories: Monsoon Wedding and the Mythos of a "New" India"
Film: Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding
Talk by Dr. Jon Hegglund, Asst. Professor, Washington State University, Pullman
"The Stain of Race, the Bleach of Englishness, the Fabric Softener of Sexuality"
Film: Hanif Kureishi's My Beautiful Laundrette
Talk by Dr. Sangita Gopal, Asst. Professor, University of Oregon
"Communal Love: Erotics and Politics in Recent Indian Cinema"
Film: Aparna Sen's Mr. & Mrs. Iyer