Under Construction

Persistence Resistance

2008-04-01T05:17:00.000-07:00

A festival of contemporary political films

Magic Lantern Foundation and the Indian International Centre (IIC), is organising the Persistence Resistance: a festival of contemporary political films on the 28th, 29th and 30th April 2008 at the IIC in New Delhi.

The festival aims to create a cinema space that celebrates the diverse nature of films today.

The films that are to be screened at the festival are largely from the collection of films that are being distributed through Under Construction, a non-broadcast, non-commercial, educational distribution initiative.

For details visit our website

New Arrivals (Jan 2008)

2008-04-01T04:59:00.000-07:00

Gulabi Aaina
Director: Sridhar Rangaihn
Underneath a humorous exterior, an exploration of the Indian gay landscape, underlining the deep, humanly tender bondings that exist between drag queens.
English (subtitled), 40 min, 2002, India
Subject: Gender, Sexual Minorities, Sexuality

Hope Dies Last in War
Directors: Supriyo Sen
Struggle of the families of the prisoners of the 1971 Indo-Pak war to get their loved ones back.
English (subtitled), 80 minutes, 2007, India
Subject: Borders, Conflict, War, Prisoners, Human Rights

Invisible
Director: Roz Mortimer
When scientists tested breast milk from Inuit mothers, they were shocked to find the milk loaded with chemicals migrating from the south.
English (subtitled), 63 minutes, 2006, UK
Subject: Environment, Pollution, Health, Ethnography

Milind Soman Made Me Gay
Director: Harjant Gill
About desire and notions of ‘home’ and ‘belonging’, juxtaposing memories of the filmmaker’s past against stories of 3 gay South Asian men living in the diaspora.
English, 27 min, 2007, USA
Subject: Gender, Sexual Minorities, Identity, Diaspora

Nusrat has left the Building ... But When?
Director: Farjad Nabi
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s metamorphosis from a genuine popular artiste to a mass produced exotica of the east.
No dialogue, 25 minutes, 1997, Pakistan
Subject: Caste, Society, People

Skin Deep
Director: Reena Mohan
The eternal search for the ideal feminity and how it permeates the self image of women.
English (subtitled), 83 min, 1998, India
Subject: Gender, Identity, Feminity, Stereotypes

Temporary Loss of Consciousness
Director: Monica Bhasin
An exploration of the boundaries of internal and external spaces of people in exile.
English (subtitled), 35 minutes, 2005, India
Subject: Borders, Exile, Displacement, Human Rights

Way Back Home
Director: Supriyo Sen
A family’s journey back to their homeland in Bangladesh after more than fifty years.
English (subtitled), 120 minutes, 2003, India
Subject: Borders, Nationality, Identity, History, Diaspora

UC goes non-exclusive

2007-10-26T05:51:00.000-07:00

We are delighted to announce that the contract that Under Construction draws up with filmmakers for distribution is now non-exclusive. Technically, this means even if filmmakers sign a contract with us, they are free to have similar arrangements with other distributors in the same territories.

Since we have so far been working with exclusive contracts, our existing filmmakers are welcome to decide if they would like to continue with our earlier 'exclusive' arrangement or would rather opt for non-exclusivity.
In case existing filmmakers choose a 'non-exclusive' option we don't need to draw up a new contract. However, a one line email with instruction is necessary and sufficient.

In the non-exclusive contract most of the existing terms remain the same. Only the "Sale through Producer" option, where we were offering 80% of the sale price to the Producer for enquiries directed to us by the them gets dropped for a standardized royalty of 65% to filmmakers/ producers.

We welcome filmmakers to join us with their films.

For more details, send us a mail.

New arrivals at Under Construction

2007-08-22T00:27:00.000-07:00

This month we have added some excellent films to our collection, as follows:

Aw Aakare Aa (A, B, She)
Director: Subas Das
Story of a school teacher and her attempts to reform the education system.
Oriya (subtitled in English), 90 min, 2003, India

Black Pamphlets
Director: Nitin K.
A glimpse of democracy in practice through a chronicle of a students' elections at the Delhi University.
Hindi, English (with English subtitles), 84 min, 2007, India

Development At Gunpoint (Unnayan - Banduker Nale)
Director: Pramod Gupta
An account of the heroic efforts of Nandigram’s people to protect their land from being taken away in the name of industrialisation and development.
Bengali (with English Subtitles), 44 min, 2007, India

Monsoon Cloud (Mungaara Mugilu)
Director: M.S. Prakash Babu
A surreal look into the a few hours in an old man’s life as he encounters a series of situations and emotions.
Kannada (English subtitled), 12 min, 2005, India

Planeta Alemania: Observations from invisibility
Director: Dogfilm and Companeros
A cinematic portrait of a woman living and working in Germany like a “criminal”, but without having committed any “crime”.
German, Spanish (with English subtitles), 40 min, 1999, Germany

Snapshots from a Family Album
Director: Avijit Mukul Kishore
A critical time in a family’s history: that moment when the idea of ‘home’ is being reconfigured across three distinct cities and cultures.
Hindi, English (with English subtitles), 63 min, 2004, India

Tazaa Khabar (Hot Off the Press)
Director: Bishakha Datta
‘Khabar Lahariya’, published every fortnight from a small town in Uttar Pradesh’s Chitrakoot district, covers all the news that mainstream media forgot.
Hindi (with English subtitles), 31 min, 2006, India

Voices (Kuchh Awazen)
Director: Sameera Jain
Three of the most marginalised communities among Dalits in UP come together to give voice to the oppression and marginalisation they have been subjected to for centuries.
English (with subtitles), 34 min, 2006, India

Where the Heart Lies (Dar Pa Dar)
Director: Samar Minallah
A film about the Afghan Refugee women living in the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan.
Pushtu (with English subtitles), 53 min, Pakistan

More on the films

Under Construction ties up with Scholars Without Borders

2007-07-27T04:22:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to reach its films to a wider range of viewers, Under Construction has tied up with Scholars Without Borders, an online bookstore that aims to promote Indian books on the global arena. All UC films with international distribution rights are available on the Scholars site, which also provides online payment facilities through credit card or Paypal.

Click on the following link and look under 'Documentaries' and further under 'Under Construction films':

Scholars Without Borders

UC films win awards

2007-07-25T05:40:00.001-07:00

Some of Under Construction's films have have won prestigious awards at various festivals around the world.

Rehad Desai's film Bushman's Secret won the Silver Dhow for best documentary at the 2007 Zanzibar International film festival.

More recently, Seruppu by Amudhan R. P. was awarded the Third Prize at the Jeevika 2007, the South Asia Livelihood Documentary Competition in New Delhi.

Both the films have participated at numerous other festivals as well. Bushman's Secret has also been telecast on some of the most prominent television channels all over the world.

2007-06-02T05:52:00.000-07:00

New Arrivals at Under Construction

A CAR FOR A DOLLAR
Directors: Maximilian Spohr and Reiner Derdau
The story of a unique creation known as the Trabant
English, 60 minutes, 2005, Canada/ Germany

BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP SEA
Director: Saraswati Rao Kavula
A film on the troubles and travails of the traditional marine fisher folk from Andhra
English (subtitled), 73 minutes, 2005, India

FROM DUST
Director: Dhruv Dhawan
The untold story of a '100 meter rule' after the Tsunami
English, Sinhala (subtitled in English), 56 min, 2005, Sri Lanka/ UAE

SERUPPU
Director: Amudhan R. P.
Life of the Catholic Arundhatiyars of Dharmanathapuram, who traditionally make footwear, in the face of caste discrimination and growing competition from the footwear industry
Tamil (with English subtitles), 74 min, 2006, India

STORY TELLERS
Directors: Prashanth Kumar R. and Daya J.
Challenges in the life of a shadow puppeteer and his art
English (subtitled), 25 minutes, 2006, India

WAITING ...
Directors: Shabnam Ara and Atul Gupta
On women and children surviving amongst conflict in war-torn Kashmir
English (subtitled), 39 minutes, 2005, India

For more on Under Construction films and Magic Lantern Foundation, visit our website http://www.magiclanternfoundation.org

To order copies, write to us at underconstruction@magiclanternfoundation.org