Birth of Nations and Partitions
Meriam Belli
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
In the period following World War II, new nations, nation-states, and political identities emerged from territorial partitions, which social consequences people are still struggling and living with today. This five-day film series presents three such cases of partitions that occurred between 1947 and 1949: India/Pakistan (1947), Israel/Palestine (1948), and West Germany/East Germany (1949).
Contact: Mabel Chin, E51-285, x3-4965, mchin@mit.edu
Sponsor: History
Cosponsor: Womens Studies
Partitioned Identities - Earth (Deepa Mehta, 1998)
Haimanti Roy
Based in Lahore of 1947, the film revolves around the lives of some of its subaltern citizens whose idyllic lives are fractured by the Partition. We see the absurdities of Partition through the eyes of an eight-year-old Parsi girl, Lenny. The film is based on the award-winning novel by Bapsi Sidhwa, Cracking India (Ice-Candyman).
Mon Jan 8, 07:30-10:30pm, 32-141
Partitioned Identities - Meghe Dhaka Tara (Cloud Capped Star)(Ritwick Ghatak, 1960)
Haimanti Roy
The film revolves around the predicaments faced by a Bengali family who tries to come to grips with their new status as refugees in the wake of the Partition in Bengal. Nita, the main character in the film clearly embodies both the socio-economic implications of the Partition as well as the gendered nature of the event itself.
Tue Jan 9, 07:30-10:30pm, 32-141
Crossing Borders - The Syrian Bride/Kala Ha-Surit (Israel, 2004)
Meriam Belli
1947-UN approved Palestine's partition. 1948-Jewish nationalists won independence of Israel. Borders created in 1948 & 1967 Arab-Israeli War resulted in Palestinian refuge problem & separation/alienation of people from one another. In The Syrian Bride-E. Riklis tells the story of a Druze-Israeli bride who leaves Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to marry a Syrian t.v. star, knowing crossing the border she can't return home.
Wed Jan 10, 07:30-10:30pm, 32-141
Crossing Borders - Rana's Wedding (Jerusalem, Another Day)
Meriam Belli
Hany Abu-Assad (Palestine, 2002). 90 minutes.
A romantic drama about a Palestinian girl who wants to get married with the man of her choice. She only has ten hours to find her boyfriend in an occupied and chaotic Jerusalem. When the abnormality of barriers and occupation becomes an everyday reality, love and marriage turn into fiction.
Thu Jan 11, 07:30-10:30pm, 32-141
Breaking the Wall - Good bye Lenin (Germany, 2003)
David Ciarlo
"East Germany"(GDR)est.1949 Soviet occupied zone/"West Germany" occupied by US/GB/FR. Germany reunified after popular protest movement leading to fall of Berlin Wall-1989 & free elections-1990. This film, a brilliant comedy:Christiane, socialist/supporter of GDP, falls into a coma on eve of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Upon wakening, Germany is reunited; her son protects her from the truth/creates an alternative reality.
Fri Jan 12, 07:30-10:30pm, 32-141
Latest update: 11-Jan-2007
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