TRAVELLING FILM SOUTH ASIA 2008
Thirteen Outstanding Documentaries from Our Region

Film South Asia (FSA) announces Travelling Film South Asia 2008 (TFSA '08) – 13 Outstanding Documentaries from Our Region. These films have been selected from the 45 documentaries screened in the competitive section of Film South Asia '07, the sixth edition of the festival of Southasian documentaries. The selection has been done with the help of the festival's three-member jury, chaired by Bombay-based filmmaker Saeed Mirza.

The thirteen films of TFSA '08

6 Yards to Democracy (55')
India, 2006, dir - Nishtha Jain & Smriti Nevatia
Election promises of free saris leads to stampede

Ayodhya Gatha (60')
India, 2007, dir - Vani Subramanian
Life in Ayodhya post-Babri Masjid
Winner of the Special Jury Mention Award at FSA ’07

Chaama Deu! Tara Nabirsa! (Forgive! Forget Not!) (59')
Nepal, 2007, dir - Pranay Limbu
A journalist's fight for survival in a Nepali barrack

Eisenfresser (Ironeaters) (85')
Bangladesh, 2007, dir - Shaheen Dill-Riaz
Famine forces farmers to seek work as ship-breakers
Winner of the Ram Bahadur Trophy for Best Film at FSA ’07

Every Good Marriage Begins with Tears (62')
UK/Bangladesh, 2006, dir - Simon Chambers
Sassy Londoners sent to Dhaka for arranged marriage

From Dust (60')
Sri Lanka, 2005, dir - Dhruv Dhawan
Post-Tsunami expose of state corruption

A Life with Slate (59')
Nepal, 2006, dir - Dipesh Kharel
Poetic dimensions of slate-mining in Nepali village
Joint Winner of the Best Debut Film Award at FSA ’07

Living Goddess (96')
Nepal, 2006/07, dir - Ishbel Whitaker
Lives of Kumaris during the People's Movement of April 2006

The Miseducation of Pakistan (30')
Pakistan, 2005, dir - Syed Ali Nasir
Primary schools in Pakistan: an indictment of state and society

Motherland Afghanistan (74')
Afghanistan, 2006, dir - Sedika Mojadidi
An Afghan father's return to the home country

Rabba Hun Kee Kariye (Thus Departed our Neighbours) (65')
India, 2007, dir - Ajay Bhardwaj
The scars of Partition in Indian Punjab

Remembrance of Things Present (81')
India, 2007, dir - Chandra Siddan
How is a teen supposed to deal with an arranged marriage?
Winner of the Second Best Film Award at FSA ’07

The Sky Below (75')
India/Pakistan, 2006/07, dir - Sara Singh
The India-Pakistan frontier six decades after Partition
Joint Winner of the Best Debut Film Award at FSA ’07

Hosting TFSA ’08
The TFSA ’08 package comes with the 13 films in professional-quality Mini-DV tapes or DVDs, TFSA posters and the touring festival catalogues. The festival package can be hosted by any organisation with the ability to organise a venue, do effective publicity and bring an audience of size and quality to do justice to the film package. The organisers insist that the TFSA package be shown through high-quality video projection systems. The 13 films, which vary significantly in length, are ideally screened over three consecutive afternoons-evenings, though a more flexible schedule may be considered. Together, the documentaries in the TFSA ’08 package add up to a little over 14 hours of viewing time.

Please note that the festival will only travel to cities where host organisations are willing to take full responsibility for publicity, screenings and all associated logistics. One city can have more than one TFSA festival. As per FSA’s agreement with the individual filmmakers and production houses, the screenings may only be non-commercial. This means that entry fees at TFSA may at best be used to offset screening costs, and no profits are to be generated for the host organisation.

Costs
There is no charge levied on hosts and venues within Southasia. In order to defray all TFSA-related costs, an all-inclusive charge of USD 800 per venue is levied by the FSA Secretariat to all organisers overseas. (Any amount left over from the fee collection will go to the organisation of FSA ’09, slated for October 2009). The FSA Secretariat allows the package to remain with one host for a maximum of three weekends. The levy for academic institutions interested in keeping the package beyond the three-week period is USD 1200 all inclusive. The local host (whether in Southasia or overseas) takes the responsibility, at its own cost, of dispatching the package to the next venue as directed by the FSA Secretariat.

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.