India202043 minHindi, English with English subtitlesNorth American PremiereDocumentary, Experimental, Women Filmmakers
A mysterious tiger walks through the forest, barely revealing itself, save for a few rare and magical glimpses. This allegorical fiction begins Pallavi Paul’s description of systemic police violence in Delhi, India, based on events suppressed from official history. Using scattered but historically significant fragments of documentation, including video and audio eyewitness accounts, Paul explores the intersections of power, gender, and the narrativization of memory. The film moves across moments like the national emergency of 1975–77, and the anti-Sikh pogrom of 1984, all while remaining contemporary by alluding to recent police brutality across university campuses.
Creating a narrative from the memories and stories of collective power, resistance, and violence, Paul arrives at a coherent study of an abuse of power that is situated in Delhi, but that is easily recognizable almost anywhere in the world.
- Mariam Zaidi
OFFICIAL SELECTION
2021 International Film Festival Rotterdam
2021 Sheffield DocFest
Pallavi Paul
Video artist and film researcher Pallavi Paul works with video, installations, and performance. She started her scientific career with a study of literary science, and has now completed her PhD in film studies in New Delhi. Paul’s work has been shown at, among others, the Tate Modern in London, Contour Biennale in Mechelen, Belgium, and the Mumbai Film Festival.
10 Nov, 2021
to 19 Nov, 2021
An Active Listener will be available to offer one-on-one peer support for viewers who may find the content of this presentation triggering. More info on how to access here.
Q&A with Pallavi Paul, moderated by Bedatri Choudhury
Bedatri is a culture journalist and documentary film professional. She has managed documentary projects at Doc Society, Working Films, The Gotham Film & Media Institute, and CAAM, among others. An alumna of the NYFF Critics Academy, Sundance and SXSW Press Inclusion Initiatives, the National Critics’ Institute, and Berlinale Talents, she lives in New York City. Presently, she is the Managing Editor of Documentary Magazine and a programmer with DOC NYC.
(re)Rites of Passage is a special anthology published as part of our 25th-anniversary celebrations, and a follow-up to Reel Asian: Asian Canada on Screen (published in 2007 for Reel Asian’s 10th anniversary).
Seo, the director of a romance, is at his wit’s end trying to finish his film. Editor Park has been brought in to help fix it. But it’s not your typical post-production problems of recalibrating the film’s story structure. This film is haunted.
Follow Canadian Spotlight artist Ali Kazimi on a deep dive into his archive-infused films Continuous Journey and Random Acts of Legacy. Topics will include technical looks at film preservation, editing, music composition, and creative considerations of perspective and collaboration.
Founded in Toronto in 1997, Reel Asian is Canada’s largest pan-Asian film festival and a year-round cultural organization dedicated to championing Asian and Asian diasporic artists and storytellers. What began as a grassroots film festival has grown into a national platform supporting filmmakers and audiences through screenings, education, industry initiatives, artist development, and community programming presented across Toronto, the GTA, and online across Canada.
401 Richmond Street West, The Commons (Suite 448)
Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3A8 Canada
(416) 703 – 9333
info@reelasian.com
Charitable number: 870021383RR0001
