South Asia and the World
The diverse and unifying package of Travelling Film South Asia 2004

The fourth edition of the festival of South Asian documentaries, Film South Asia ’03, was held in Kathmandu from 25-28 September, 2003. Forty-three films were screened, selected from the all-time high of 230 films submitted. The documentaries were shown to full houses, and for the first time in FSA history the closing film was screened to a capacity audience at a commercial cinema.

The popularity of the South Asian documentary is registering a continuous upward swing. One reason is the existence of Traveling Film South Asia, which has over the last six years been showcasing the best of the Subcontinent’s non-fiction output in the region and overseas. Because of the high quality of the entries shown at FSA ’03, we are confident that the current TFSA ’04 will help further consolidate the audience as well as market for the South Asian non-fiction film.

The 15 films that are part of this travelling collection were chosen from those screened at FSA ’03 with the help of the festival’s three-member jury, chaired by the journalist Mark Tully. They include five that received awards at FSA ’03. These fifteen outstanding films will be travelling all over South Asia and the world, giving audiences far removed from each other an opportunity to sample an exciting range of topics and themes, presentation styles and techniques.

"Documentaries can be fun!" was the slogan of FSA '03. Given the serious tone and tenor of the films that ultimately entered, the festival organisers made a jocular attempt to make the slogan fit by simply redefining the word ‘fun’ to mean “thoughtful, earnest, enlightening, stirring, stimulating, rousing...” But it is true that while many of selected films are on critical political, social and economic issues that are important for an understanding of the current social context, others highlight the lighter and more pleasant aspects of South Asian life and culture, presenting them in novel and entertaining ways.

TFSA is a tradition begun with the first Film South Asia festival, held in September 1997, after which 17 outstanding films travelled to 40 venues. The second TFSA, subsequent to FSA '99, traveled to more than 45 venues. Following on FSA 2001, the third TFSA, went to 48 venues. We expect TFSA ’04 to travel to many more cities and venues within the countries of South Asia, helping generate understanding and empathy among ourselves. At the same time, the traveling festival’s excursion overseas will provide the critical context required for others to understand us.

The FSA Secretariat encourages organisers and film enthusiasts in towns and cities large and small – all over – to consider hosting TFSA* and bringing a taste of this at-once diverse and unifying package of documentaries to audience in South Asia and in the world.