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A word from the director, Alka Kurian, on Opening Night
The opening night of Aaina 2008 established what has now become a tradition in Seattle’s Desi scene where an ever growing Tasveer family comes together event after event, year after year. A most amazing turn out of audience congregated in the café area of Central Cinema catching up with friends and acquaintances over free wine, nibbles, gupshup and peels of laughter.
The festival was kicked off by Meghna Damani’s short film – Hearts Suspended - on the predicament faced by South Asian women who are denied legal right to work and means for financial independence in the US. The rest of the evening was filled with live presentations made by artists, poets, dancers, writers, and actors:
Aaliyah Gupta took us through a stunning exhibition of her Earth and Eruption, life, and pod/sac series; Afrose Ahmed poetically rendered her reactions to the romantic, mythical and political world that we inhabit and so take for granted; through a delicate combination of traditional and modern choreography Archana Kumar danced against a backdrop of veils, feet, and melody. And finally Lavanya and Garima’s lively rendition of Ayka Dajiba got the audience to literally want to dance to the music.
And all along we were conscious of impatient lines of people waiting outside. For this year’s first run of Yoni Ki Baat tickets were sold out an hour before the show began. And what a show it was! An undiscerning audience might have been lured into a sense of comfort that comes with the display of normalcy and domesticity offered on the stage. But surrounded by the traditionally held trappings of femininity – comfy couches, banarasi and kanjeevaram gold and silk saris, pashmina shawls, and coffee cups - we saw the most brutally honest, direct, and unflinching performances rendered by a group of desi girls who took potshots at stereotypes, prejudices and all the taboo that is associated with women’s bodies, their dreams, sexuality, and abuse. And in case you are sorry you missed this landmark performance presented by Aaina, don’t lose heart. There is a repeat performance tonight – see details below.
Comments from the audience:
“It is time women spoke up about these issues”
“It was worth waiting in the waiting list!”
“Yoni Ki Baat was so good, I want to watch it again tomorrow but I have to work”
March 29th, Saturday • Central Cinema, 1411 21st Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122
2PM Chaya's Community Speaks, FREE
4PM Girl Stars & Enemies of Happiness, $5 suggested donation
7PM Daughters of Wisdom, $7 suggested donation
9PM Yoni Ki Baat (second run), $10 suggested donation
Chaya's Community Speaks • 2PM, March 29th, Saturday • Late guests will not be admitted.
Cost: FREE
Listen. Experience. Witness.
Community Speaks is a creative community forum where people will share a multitude of expressions that speak out to name violence in its various forms. Come to witness stories of survival, violence, courage, pain, hope, and more. Community Speaks is a Chaya event within the Aaina Festival. This particular event is free of cost. Please arrive by 2pm; late guests will not be admitted.
Chaya is a community based non-profit organization that serves South Asian women in times of crisis and raises awareness on domestic violence issues.
Girl Stars & Enemies of Happiness • 4PM, March 29th, Saturday
Cost: $5.00 suggested donation
Girl Stars – a collection of shorts
India, 35 minutes, English/Hindi, DVD
Girl Stars are extraordinary tales of ordinary girls who have changed their lives by going to school. It is a multi-media project that creates ‘icons’ out of everyday women and girls who have changed their lives through education.  Girl Stars was created by ‘Going to School: India’ and was supported by UNICEF India. The NGO ‘Going to School’ creates media for children with the view to making learning and education relevant to their lives and at the same time fun.
Anita the Beekeeper, Director: Vikash Nowlakha
Kiran the Junkyard Dealer, Director: Vikash Nowlakha
Suryamani the Environment Activist, Director: Umang Bhattacharya
Anuradha the Medical Student, Director: Pallavi Arora
Madhuri the Village Leader, Director: Ayesha Sood
www.goingtoschool.com
Enemies of Happiness
Eva Mulvad & Anja Al Erhayem, Afghanistan/Denmark, 2006, 59 minutes, Farsi/Pashtu (subtitled), DVD
‘Enemies of Happiness’, is about personal courage – courage to change the world and the courage to stand in the forefront of this battle. The winner of the international premiere award it is a powerful, remarkable and inspiring film. From its stunning opening, emerges a gripping story of opposition and women's rights in today's Afghanistan as the country tries to reconstruct life after the Taliban. At its heart, it's a portrait of Malalai Joya on the campaign trail in the first democratic elections in Afghanistan in 30 years. The film-makers follow this brave, fearless and committet female politician who, despite repeated assassination attempts, is prepared to take on and front-up to formere warlords in the Loya Jirga about the way they have been tearing her country apart. more...
Bare & Daughters of Wisdom • 7PM, March 29th, Saturday
Cost: $7.00 suggested donation
Bare
Santana Issar, India, 2007, 11 minutes, English/Hindi, DVD
In the piecing together of home videos shot by her parents nearly 2 decades earlier, and through a string of conversations with her father, mother, and sister, a daughter looks to understand the impact of her father's alcoholism on each of their lives: the sister's refusal to include him in her life; the mother's belief that her daughters should reach out to their father despite her own refusal to see him; the father's moment of honest introspection.
Daughters of Wisdom
Bari Pearlman, Tibet/China/USA, 2007, 68 minutes, Tibetan (subtitled in English), DVD
‘Daughters of Wisdom’ is an intimate portrait of the Tibetan nuns, who are receiving unprecedented educational and religious training, and preserving their rich cultural heritage even as they slowly reshape it. Some shy, some outspoken, all committed to the often difficult life they have chosen, the nuns graciously allowed our camera a never-before-seen glimpse into their vibrant spiritual community and insight into their extraordinary lives.
www.daughtersofwisdom.com
Yoni Ki Baat(second run) • 9PM, March 29th, Saturday
Cost: $10.00 suggested donation
Yoni Ki Baat, translated as "Talk of the Vagina", is inspired by Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues. This transformative play encourages South Asian women to speak out against the violence and stigma associated with our bodies. Yoni Ki Baat was originally started by South Asian Sisters, a progressive collective of South Asian women, who have been organizing an annual Yoni Ki Baat for the last three years in the San Francisco area and have kindly let us use their scripts. We are proud to also have several performers write theirown scripts or perform ones that have been submitted from our local community. Chaya and Tasveer have yet again collaborated to present this year's performance! Due to high interest and enthusiasm in the community, Yoni ki Baat is scheduled for two runs this year, one on the 28th of March at 9PM and the other on 29th of March at 9PM. The following is the full program, please visit Tasveer for more details.
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