Gandhi's Children
Directed by David Mac Dougall
THE FILMMAKER WILL BE PRESENT AT THE SCREENING India/Australia 2008, 185 minutes, English & Hindi with English subtitles THE SCREENING IS FREE AND OPEN TO PUBLIC 5.30pm, 8th August, 2010 Centre for Film and Drama (CFD) 5th Floor, Sona Towers, Millers Road |
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Synopsis:
"Tell us about things at home," says one boy to another. But he doesn't reply, is shaken up by memories, can't think of anything to say. His friend understands. "OK," he says, "Don't cry, don't be angry, OK, don't tell."… And to the filmmaker behind his camera: "He won't tell”.
Gandhi's Children tells of the boys in a shelter in Jahangirpuri, Delhi. You see them in their daily routine - making beds, having lessons, washing their clothes, the pranks of the older boys - but beyond that they tell of all the things they've already had to experience in their relatively short lives. There are criminal children among them, handed over by the police, but also orphans, outcasts, the abused. A tender joy beams from their faces as a couple of small pickpockets praise the artistry with which they pinch a mobile phone from a stranger's pocket, and mimic the movements with their fine-featured hands.
Gandhi's Children is a new masterpiece by David MacDougall, who has lent his imprint to both the practice and theory of ethnological cinema since the 60s.
(Excerpt from the Review of Gandhi's Children by Fritz Gottler, at the time of its screening at the Munich International Documentary Film Festival).
For more about David MacDougall and his Documentary –
http://rsh.anu.edu.au/people/profile_system/public.php?id=115
http://hcl.harvard.edu/hfa/films/2010aprjun/macdougall.htmlhttp://www.roninfilms.com.au/feature/2152.htmlhttp://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=5105768902&topic=3480
"Tell us about things at home," says one boy to another. But he doesn't reply, is shaken up by memories, can't think of anything to say. His friend understands. "OK," he says, "Don't cry, don't be angry, OK, don't tell."… And to the filmmaker behind his camera: "He won't tell”.
Gandhi's Children tells of the boys in a shelter in Jahangirpuri, Delhi. You see them in their daily routine - making beds, having lessons, washing their clothes, the pranks of the older boys - but beyond that they tell of all the things they've already had to experience in their relatively short lives. There are criminal children among them, handed over by the police, but also orphans, outcasts, the abused. A tender joy beams from their faces as a couple of small pickpockets praise the artistry with which they pinch a mobile phone from a stranger's pocket, and mimic the movements with their fine-featured hands.
Gandhi's Children is a new masterpiece by David MacDougall, who has lent his imprint to both the practice and theory of ethnological cinema since the 60s.
(Excerpt from the Review of Gandhi's Children by Fritz Gottler, at the time of its screening at the Munich International Documentary Film Festival).
For more about David MacDougall and his Documentary –
http://rsh.anu.edu.au/people/profile_system/public.php?id=115
http://hcl.harvard.edu/hfa/films/2010aprjun/macdougall.htmlhttp://www.roninfilms.com.au/feature/2152.htmlhttp://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=5105768902&topic=3480