A Two Day Fair

Forthcoming from CMCS
Directed by KP Jayasankar and Anjali Monteiro

2009, Kutchi and Gujarati with English subtitles
Camera: KP Jayasankar, Script, Editing, Sound Design: Anjali Monteiro and KP Jayasankar

Produced by the Centre for Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India
www.cmcs.tiss.edu
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The Great Rann of Kutch, in the state of Gujarat, is a vast salt desert, that separates India and Pakistan. Murra Lala from Janan, Khadir and Kanji Rana from Dhrubana, Kalo Dongar are Meghwals, a pastoral Dalit community that lives on the edge of the Rann. Before the Partition the Meghwals moved freely across the Rann, between Sindh (now in Pakistan) and Kutch. Though Janan and Dhrubana are a short distance from each other, they are separated by the Rann patrolled by State security agencies and inaccessible to civilians; the circuitous journey between them takes a day.

Murra sings Sufi music and Kabir and Kanji plays the Jodiya Pawa (double flute). Kanji learned to make his own flute as well as to play it by listening to the radio.They both work as daily wage labourers.A Two Day Fair is fascinating journey into their spaces, lives and music.

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About the Directors

Anjali Monteiro and K.P. Jayasankar are Professors at the  Centre for Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Monteiro has a Masters degree in Economics and a Ph.D. in Sociology. Jayasankar has an M.A. in German language and a Ph.D. in Humanities and Social Sciences. Both of them are involved in media production, teaching and research. A presiding thematic of much of their work has been a problematising of notions of self and the other, of normality and deviance, of the local and the global, through the exploration of diverse narratives and rituals. These range from the stories and paintings of indigenous peoples to the poetry of prison inmates. Jointly they have won twenty one national and international awards for their films. These include the Prix Futura Berlin 1995 Asia Prize for Identity- The Construction of Selfhood, a Special Mention of the Jury at MIFF `96 for Kahankar: Ahankar, the Certificate of Merit at MIFF `98 and Best Innovation, Astra Film Festival 1998, Sibiu, Romania for YCP 1997, the Second Prize for Saacha at the New Delhi Video Forum 2001 and the Best documentary award at the IV Three Continents International Festival of Documentaries 2005, Venezuela, for SheWrite. Their most recent awards are the Special Jury Award at the Signs 2007 Festival, held in Thiruvananthapuram, Certificate of Merit, Mumbai International Film Festival 2008, Indian Documentary Producers Associuation (IDPA) Gold for Best Sound Design, Gold for Best Script and Silver for Editing for the film Our Family.

They have several papers in the area of media and cultural studies and have contributed to scholarly journals such as Cultural Studies. They are both recipients of the Howard Thomas Memorial Fellowship in Media Studies, and have been attached to Goldsmith’s College, London and the University of Western Sydney. Monteiro has been awarded a Fulbright visiting lecturer fellowship for 2006-07 at the University of California, Berkeley. They also serve as visiting faculty to several leading media and design institutions in India and abroad. They are both actively involved in ‘Vikalp‘ and ‘Films for Freedom’, which are collectives of documentary filmmakers campaigning for freedom of expression. They are also associated with various media and voluntary organisations.

CREDITS

Interview Translation

Swati Gada
Subuhi Jiwani

Editing,Sound Design and Subtitles

K.P. Jayasankar

Anjali Monteiro

Location Sound

Harikumar M.

Camera

K. P. Jayasankar

Script and Direction

Anjali Monteiro

K. P. Jayasankar

Produced by

Centre for Media and Cultural Studies

Tata Institute of Social Sciences

Mumbai 400 088, India

Telephone: +91 22 25525667
E-mail: cmcs.tiss [AT]vsnl.com URL: www.cmcs.tiss.edu