DISSENT ! (Workshop: Anand Patwardhan and Stoffel Debuysere)

A programme in collaboration with Docnomads and Dissent!

Since the time of the 1970s, Anand Patwardhan has been a voice in debates regarding Indian society. His first two films approached the brutal representation and political imprisonment of countries that have collapsed into dictatorships. Since then, he constantly sides with those who are oppressed or left behind. Crossing 30 years of modern history, his films bear precious witness to the evolution of Indian society: of a passage from a traditional society to a modern society that must confront the new challenges of the urban development in the film "Bombay our City;" of the separation of timely and untimely powers in "The Name of God" and "In Memory of Friends;" of the construction of a barricade in "Narmada;" and, finally, in the experience of the atomic bomb in "War & Peace." With graceful montage, his films communicate proof without resorting to persuasion and it is rare that the soundtrack of his films contain any judgement or personal interpretation. The images speak for themselves. Viewers are free to make their own conclusions. The films of Anand Patwardhan are meant to awaken our political conscience and to remind us of that it is collective groups that make history happen.

Stoffel Debuysere
Courtisane festival Ghent