Kontra-Agos
A Resistance Films Festival
Robinson's Galleria, IndieSine
Quezon City, The Philppines
December 5-11, 2007
Papa 2 & Naga Story: The Other Side of Silence [Closing Films]
Papa 2
Directed By: Gopal Menon
PAPA 2 was a notorious interrogation centre run by the Indian Armed Forces in Kashmir till 1996. Officially, over 2000 - unofficially, over 10,000 - people have disappeared from the Kashmir Valley over the past 15 years. Most of these are enforced disappearances. The film, "PAPA 2", documents the struggle of the mothers and wives of disappeared persons to trace their loved ones. It features interviews with the families of the affected people and also members of the Association of Parents of Disappeared People.
Screened at Film South Asia 2003, Katmandu; ivFest 2003, Trivandrum; Nottam 2002, Kerala; WSF 2004, Mumbai, The Netherlands Himalayas Film Festival, Amsterdam, 2004, SOAS, London, 2004. Invited to the Banff Mountain Film
Festival, Alberta, Canada.
Naga Story: The Other Side of Silence
Directed By: Gopal Menon
The Nagas are a 3 million-strong indigenous people who occupy the North-East frontier of the Indian subcontinent. The Naga political struggle is one of the oldest nationality movements in South Asia, continuing till present times. The film Naga Story provides an introduction to the history of the Naga struggle, and documents the human rights abuses suffered by the Naga people in more than 50 years of the existence of Independent India. Naga Story, which took 5 years to complete, is the first comprehensive film about the Naga struggle for identity, self-determination, peace, and justice.
Winner of the 'Spirit of the Himalayas' First Prize at The Netherlands Himalayas Film Festival, Amsterdam, 2004. Withdrawn from MIFF 2004 along with 6 other films as part of the Campaign Against Censorship by Indian filmmakers. Screened at the protest festival "Vikalp 2004", Mumbai. Invited to the Telluride Mountain Film Festival, Telluride, Colorado, USA, and the Banff Mountain Film Festival, Alberta, Canada, and Signs 2005, organised by Federation of Film Societies India, Kerala.
About the Director
Gopal Menon’s first film was a documentary on the destruction of tropical evergreen forests in the Nilgiri biosphere. He has worked with the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and documented the Naga and Kashmiri political movements. Menon has also made films on Dalit issues and the communal riots in Gujarat, and worked with Channel 4 on the issue of the funding of Hindu extremist organizations.