Film festival lens on prejudice

A young Tunisian filmmaker is trying to become the next Quentin Tarantino, the maker of the 1992 heist movie Reservoir Dogs. Sweatshop workers in China breathe a sigh a relief at the end of their day’s torture, hoping the next day is close. A Rwandan genocide victim attempts to rebuild his life. All this on celluloid, but very real.

International NGO Breakthrough has presented a tri-continental film festival here, bringing classics that portray grim tales of human rights violations. The films on show are from across Asia, Latin America and Africa.

“Our attempt is to make the audience reflect on our prejudices while examining our relationships to social change and justice. The films look at human lives with a new lens,” said Breakthrough associate director Alka Khosla.

Chief minister Sheila Dikshit and actress Nafisa Ali had inaugurated the Delhi leg of the event on January 18 and the screenings in the capital came to a close earlier this week. The festival moves to Bangalore (Feb 1-3) and then to Calcutta (Feb 8-10).

Prayers & marriage over

He was the high priest of deception and the much-married Vijay Joseph had spun his guile on four ladies and their families — until the last one ripped his mask off.

The 40-year-old self-styled pastor was arrested last week when Pamela, his fourth wife of over five months, realised that she was merely one of those who had walked into his marital trap since his first target almost 20 years back.

Police said Vijay would visit homes to offer prayers claiming he was a pastor and a bachelor, befriend the family and lure them into giving away their daughters in marriage.

Vijay had married Rani Mary of Coimbatore in 1989, Rajani in 1994 and Jayanthi in 2007 and Pamela, a resident of Bangalore’s Shantinagar, on September 11, 2007.

Flow with saffron tide

A saffron surge might have changed the course of M. Karunanidhi’s rhetoric.

The DMK chief, having angered Hindu groups with his remarks on Ram during the Ram setu row, is trying to mend fences by extolling another Hindu national icon.

The chief minister set tongues wagging when he attended Swami Vivekananda’s birth anniversary celebrations and lavished praise on him. The chief minister spoke of Vivekananda’s efforts to take the message of Hinduism to the West and to rid the religion of its superstition.

One of those who shared the podium with the octogenarian leader was Union youth affairs minister and Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar. Some political observers believe Karunanidhi was trying to send the message to his ally (the Congress), uneasy after the Ram remarks and buffeted by the saffron tide in Gujarat and Himachal, that he could sense the change in the way the wind was blowing and swim with the current.

Tracks clear

Luxury buses in the capital will not compete with the Metro, the government appears to have decided, in an effort to ensure the two modes don’t cross each other’s path.

The planned air-conditioned luxury buses will run on routes other than those where the tube is already available.

“Since tickets charges in the AC buses and the Metro will be similar, we will ensure that they do not clash with each other,” chief minister Sheila Dikshit said recently. Around 6,000 modern, low-floor buses are expected to hit the roads in time for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

delhi: This Monday, 67 top Indian and Korean contemporary ceramic artists showcase more than 100 works at the Indo-Korean Contemporary Ceramic Exhibition. The venue is Gallerie Nvya, 4/6 Siri Fort Institutional Area, Academy of Fine Arts and Literature. Time: 11am to 7pm.