Saving the Final Solution

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Message: 3Date: Sun, 08 Aug 2004 14:28:38 +0530From: Jeebesh Bagchi <jeebesh@sarai.net>
Subject: [Commons-Law] Censor Board bans documentary
To: commons-law@sarai.net
Message-ID: <4115EB3E.70105@sarai.net>
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As you know, the Censor Board of India recently banned Rakesh Sharma'sinternationally-acclaimed documentary - Final Solution. An onlinepetition has been created by Anand Patwardhan to protest against theban. The petition asks Central Government to intervene and revoke theban immediately. As you may already know, under clause 6 and 9 of theCinematograph Act, the Central Government is empowered to overturn anydecision/ recommendation by the Censor Board.People who have already signed the petition include Shabana Azmi,Nandita Das, Vijay Tendulkar, Shyam Benegal, Javed Akhtar, Aparna Sen,Karan Johar, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Farhan Akhtar, Rahul Bose, VishalBhardwaj, Arundhati Nag, Sanjana Kapoor, MS Sathyu, Lekh Tandon,Yogendra Yadav and Teesta Setalvad among others.Please extend your support by signing the petition online by clickingthe following link:http://www.PetitionOnline.com/FilmBan/petition.htmlPlease forward the petition details to people in your mailing listasking them to sign and circulate the petition widely.Final Solution ( India; 2004; Digital Video format - miniDV; 209/148minutes).Final Solution is a study of the politics of hate. Set in Gujaratduring the period Feb/March 2002 - July 2003, the film graphicallydocuments the changing face of right-wing politics in India through astudy of the 2002 genocide of Moslems in Gujarat. The film documentsthe Assembly elections held in Gujarat in late 2002 and records indetail the exploitation of the Godhra incident (in which 58 Hinduswere burnt alive) by the right-wing propaganda machinery for electoralgains. It studies the situation after the storm and its impact onHindus and Moslems - ghettoisation in cities and villages, segregationin schools, the call for economic boycott of Moslems and continuingacts of violence more than a year after the carnage.Final Solution is anti-hate/ violence as "those who forget history arecondemned to relive it".Awards :Wolfgang Staudte award and Special Jury Award (Netpac), BerlinInternational film festival.Humanitarian Award for Outstanding Documentary, HongKong Internationalfilm festival.Silver Dhow ( Best Doc category), Zanzibar International film festivalSpecial Jury Mention, Munich Dokfest.Special Award instituted and given by NRIs for a Secular and HarmoniousIndia (NRI-SAHI), NY-NJ, USA.Festivals : Berlinale ( International premiere; Feb 2004), HongKong,Fribourg, 3 continents filmfest (South Africa), Hot Docs (Canada),Vancouver, Zanzibar, Durban, Commonwealth film festival (UK), Oneworld filmfest (Prague), Voces Contra el Silencio (Mexico), Istanbul1001fest, Singapore, Flanders (Belgium), World Social Forum (Mumbai;Indian premiere), Vikalp (Mumbai filmfest organised by Campaignagainst Censorship), Films for Freedom, Bangalore and several otherfilmfests