Events

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INVITATION:

You are invited to the following screenings:

1. The Boy in the Branch, 27 mins
2. Men in the Trees, 98 mins
Both directed by Lalit Vachani

3. Final Solution, 150 mins [shorter version]
Dir: Rakesh Sharma

Date: 19th June, 2004, Saturday Time: 2:30 p.m.
Venue: Juhu Jagruti Hall, A.J. Commerce College, 1st
floor, Opp NM College, Vile Parle West, Mumbai

Amrit Gangar

This has been organized by various institutions. The
idea is to
sensitize the middle classes [particularly Gujarati]
about Gujarat genocide.

o o o o o


I am enclosing information about my recent film -

Final Solution ( India; 2004; Digital Video format -
miniDV; 209
minutes).

Awards : Wolfgang Staudte award and Special
Jury Award (Netpac), Berlin International film
festival (Feb 2004).
Silver (Best Doc category)/Humanitarian award,
HongKong International film festival.
Special Jury Mention, Munich Dokfest.
Special Award instituted and given by NRIs for a
Secular and Harmonious India (NRI-SAHI), USA.

Festivals: Berlinale ( International premiere
of the film), HongKong, Fribourg, Hot Docs
(Canada), Zanzibar, Durban, Commonwealth film
festival (UK), One world filmfest (Prague),
Istanbul 1001fest, Singapore, Flanders
(Belgium), World Social Forum (Mumbai; Indian
premiere), Vikalp (Mumbai filmfest organised by
Campaign against Censorship) and several other
filmfests.

Please let me know whether you will be interested
in acquiring a copy of the film for your
institution/ library. I'd be very grateful if
you could forward information about the film to
your colleagues and friends, especially those
teaching at Universities or working with
institutions/NGOs, asking them to support the
film by buying copies. Please note that copies
are available at a discount for individuals/
activists/ students. Please also note that the
film has distributors in different countries -
so, to place an order or for price queries,
please send your postal address as well.

Regards

Rakesh Sharma


Final Solution is a study of the politics of
hate. Set in Gujarat during the period Feb/March
2002 - July 2003, the film examines the
consequences of Hindu-Moslem polarization in the
state.

Part 1 : Pride and Genocide deals with the
genocidal violence against Moslems and its
immediate aftermath. It probes the patterns of
pre-planned violence by right-wing Hindu cadres
which many claim was state-supported, if not
state-sponsored.

Part 2 : The Terror Trail reconstructs through
eyewitness accounts the attack on Gulbarg
(Ahmedabad) and acts of barbaric violence against
Moslem women at Eral and Delol/Kalol
(Panchmahals) even as Chief Minister Modi
traverses the state on his Gaurav Yatra.

Part 3 : The Hate Mandate documents the poll
campaign during the Assembly elections in Gujarat
in late 2002. It records in detail the
exploitation of the Godhra incident ( in which 58
Hindus were burnt alive) by the right-wing
propaganda machinery for electoral gains.

Part 4 : Hope and Despair studies the situation
after the storm and its impact on Hindus and
Moslems - ghettoisation, the call for economic
boycott of Moslems and continuing acts of
violence more than a year after the carnage.

The film is anti-hate/ violence as "those who
forget history are condemned to relive it".

Dir: Rakesh Sharma Tel : +91 98203 43103
email
<mailto:finalsolutionindia@y...>carnagefilm@y...

/ <mailto:actindia@v...>actindia@v...

Final Solution has been shot and edited on DVcam;
it is subtitled in English. Copies of the film
are available on VHS pal / Video for Rs 2000 for
NGOs/ activists groups/ libraries and
organisations. Copies are available for Rs 1000
for Individuals and for Rs 600 for students/
grassroots activists. Please mail a bank draft
payable at Mumbai favouring Rakesh Sharma to : PO
Box 12023, Azad Nagar post office, Mumbai 400053.

Rakesh Sharma began his film/TV career in 1986 as
an assistant director on Shyam Benegal's
Discovery of India. His broadcast industry
experience includes the set up/ launch of 3
broadcast channels in India: Channel [V], Star
Plus and Vijay TV and several production
consultancy assignments. He has now gone back to
independent documentary film-making. His last
film Aftershocks : The Rough Guide to Democracy
won the Best documentary film award at Fribourg,
Big Mini-DV and at Big Muddy and won 7 other
awards {including the Robert Flaherty prize}at
various festivals in USA and Europe during
2002-03. It has been screened at over 90
international film festivals.