Travelling Film South Asia 2008

The 13 touring documentaries of Travelling Film South Asia 2008 (TFSA ’08) are outstanding examples of non-fiction productions of the last two years. They have been selected from the 45 documentaries screened in the competitive section of Film South Asia ’07, the ‘mother festival’. The selection has been done with the help of the festival’s three-member jury, chaired by Bombay-based filmmaker Saeed Mirza.

Films from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka were screened at FSA ’07 and they covered the most diverse topics ever: politics, art, culture, globalisation, natural disasters, environment, gender, urbanisation, labour relations, the Partition, entertainment, profile, history and so on.

TFSA is a tradition which started with the first Film South Asia festival, held in September 1997. After each FSA festival, more than a dozen films are selected to tour regionally and globally. There have been five TFSA tours thus far, going to an average 50 venues all over. Because of the high quality of the films selected for TFSA ’08, we are confident that this touring festival will help further consolidate the audience as well as market for the Southasian non-fiction film. The TFSA ’08 package includes five of the award winners at FSA ’07, as well as other films selected to showcase the variety, treatment and intensity that today mark the world of Southasian non-fiction film.

Because of the drawing power of the present package, we expect TFSA ’08 to travel to many more cities and venues than in the past within the countries of Southasia, helping generate understanding and empathy among ourselves. At the same time, the travelling festival’s excursion overseas will provide the critical context required for others to understand ‘us’.

The TFSA ’08 package travels with the willing authorisation of the individual filmmakers on the understanding that the screenings are ‘non-commercial’. (See next page for definition of the term.) The FSA Secretariat encourages organisers, educators, academics 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 audiences in Southasia and in the world. The TFSA ’08 package is ideally screened together as a complete film festival. Occasionally, we have found that the package is also used for academic purposes. Please note that one city can have more than one TFSA festival.

Contact
For more details about TFSA ’08, including travel schedule, please contact TFSA Co-ordinator, Mallika Aryal at + 977-1-5542544 or email fsa@filmsouthasia.org. For information on Film South Asia ’07, including full listing, jury report, press releases etc, go to www.filmsouthasia.org.