In a 2021 paper published in the Journal of Civil Society, Sanjeeb Mukherjee writes about the importance of civil society in the formation of a common national imaginary. This is especially pressing in the context of India—a nation that chose to define its nationalism through a set of constitutional values rather than a common language or ethnicity, marking a central departure from most democratic European nations (and Israel, whose national imagination has taken on a genocidal form).
The great architects of the Constitution made this choice to reflect and sustain the religious, linguistic, and cultural diversity of the nation, as echoed by Tagore in the fifth stanza of his poem Jana Gana Mana. This stanza, unfortunately, was not included in…

"Love, Peace, Music, Strike, Resistance, People, Cinema, Loneliness"

Intermixing self-reflective consciousness with political discernment, Kapadia's dismal, yet dreamlike documentation of the duplicity of human nature, socio-political dynamics of a troubled nation, and the morality of its cognizant Young souls attains a lyrical reality indicating a tone that's both dispiriting and sanguine in a way. Employing archival footage and letters of love, memories, and human ambiguities, this film bespeaks all- the dilemma of young hearts, fascist politics, the essentiality of creative freedom, and obviously, the uncertainties of life.

Keeping the balance between its evocative mood and gravity of upsetting truth, "A Night of Knowing Nothing" feels like a significant reflection on a conflicted country while depicting itself as a potent, stirring…

“Democracy is fundamental to socialism.”

Avant ambient political declaration poetics. Often incredibly assembled. Heartfelt and pointed. Most powerful for me when it’s working in something closer to a documentary mode, but it's always an elegiac and captivating audio/video haze. I enjoyed steeping in it.

This movie partly covers the 139 day long student protests at the Film and Television Institute of India in 2015. A spreading political movement that targeted the injustices of casteism and the dangers of right wing Hindu nationalism as embodied by the newly elected Narendra Modi.

The movie is political emotionalism achieved through an ephemeral and affected aesthetic, which opens up an interesting dialogue about aesthetics and political art. I’m reminded of the revolutionary discourse around…

Eu quero viver só para ver tudo o que a Payal Kapadia vai criar durante sua vida. Já nesse primeiro longa de estreia, ela demonstra de forma envolvente toda a complexidade emocional e social de uma realidade nada fácil, ela cria um tipo de experiência que atravessa não só a realidade, mas também nos imerge em diversas sensações visuais. Na Índia, o amor é algo político, principalmente quando se trata de diferentes castas, religiões e sexualidade, onde a liberdade colide com normas bastante rígidas. Partindo de cartas anônimas e alguns objetos deixados dentro de uma caixa encontrada em sua escola de cinema, Payal cria uma narrativa usando imagens e narração para contar em detalhes os sentimentos de um amor que…