Free Software Movement of India

The delegates participating in the National Conference on Free Software being held at Bangaluru have decided to form a consortium of organizations and movements working to popularise free software namely the Free Software Movement of India . Joseph Thomas from Kerala was elected as the President and Kiran Chandra from AP as the Secretary of FSMI.

6th edition of National Theatre Festival inaugurated at Thiruvananthapuram

Chief Minister of Kerala V.S.Achuthanandan inaugurated the 6th edition of National Theatre Festival, being organised jointly by the Information and Public Relations Department, Kendra Sangeet Natak Akademi, South Zone Cultural Centre and National School of Drama, at Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday evening, While inaugurating the fest Achuthanandan said the notion that artistes are mere tools who just deliver the dialogue prompted to them has to be changed. Actors are the strength of the medium and they should not be underestimated as dolls. Modern techniques should not eclipse the genuine talent of artistes who reflect the social realities and personal sorrows.He also said that globalisation is also playing its role in undermining the importance of theatre , the regional characteristics and diversity.Culture Minister M.A. Baby in his presidential address said that Asian Theatre Festival to be held at Thrissur in December by the Kerala Sangeeta Nataka Akademi will feature Latin American plays. Such festivals are major cultural interventions and there will be more such efforts, he said. Information Secretary T.K. Manoj Kumar welcomed the gathering. Veteran actor T. Santha Devi was felicitated at the function. Public Relations Director M. Nandakumar proposed a vote of thanks.

6th Nation Theatre festival of Kerala -March 10 - 17 at Thiruvananthapuram

Information and Public Relations Department of Kerala opens up a new vista of cultural extravaganza, National Theatre Festival, to the art aficionados of Kerala, which is scheduled from March 10 - 17 at Thiruvananthapuram. The sixth episode of the festival highlights the theme- Modern-Contemporary Theatre will be a unique experience with the presence of up-to-the-date drama techniques, a real light and sound show without losing the essence of drama.The festival will showcase a cross section of the following modern-contemporary theatre creations 1. Sagara Kannyaka (Malayalam/Dir. Jyothish M.G. Abhinaya, Thiruvananthapuram), 2.Dalpat Singh Yeti Gava (Dalpat Singh Comes to Village/Marathi/ Playwright: Makarand Sathe, Dir.: Atul Pethe, Rangmala Natak Mandali, Jambsamrath) 3Koottukrishi (Malayalam/Dir. : Narippatta Raju, Pravaachaka (Malayalam/ Dir. CV Sudhi Nireeksha, Thiruvananthapuram) 4. Pravaachaka (Malayalam/Dir. CV Sudhi , Nireeksha, Thiruvananthapuram) 5.Tedha Darpan (Hindi/Playwright: Anton Chekhov /Dir.: Rajkumar Rajak)6 Bikhare Bimb (Hindi /Playwright & Direction: Girish Karnad/Rang Sankara, Bangaluru), 7.Trojan Women: A Love Story (Playwright: Jean Paul Sartre /Script: Supriya /Direction: Kumaradas T.N./Department of Indian Theatre, Punjab University , Chandigarh Mor) 8. Black Orchid (Manipuri/Playwright: Budha Chigtham /Direction: Toijam Shila Devi /Prospective Repertory Theatre, Imphal Manipu) 9.Iruvattom Manavatti (Malayalam/Dir.: Ramesh Varma)10.Ningal Yenne Communistakki (Malayalam/Dir.: KPAC)11. Ecdysis (The Snake Sheds its Skin/German, Hindi, Punjabi/Concept & Direction: Arjun Raina ,Delhi,12. Avanavan Kadamba (Malayalam/Playwright & Direction: Kavaalam Narayana Panikkar
Sopanam, Thiruvananthapuram, 13. Spinal Cord (Malayalam/Script & Direction: Deepan Shivaraman /Oxygen Theatre Group, Thrissur, 14.Centaurs (Hindustani/Dir.: Anuradha Kapur /Vivadi, Delhi.

3rd International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala 11th-15th June 2010, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

The 3rd International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala will be held in the capital city Kerala ,Thiruvananthapuram from the 11th-15th June 2010.The festival, is being organized by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy for the Dept of Cultural Affairs, Govt of Kerala . There will be a national level competition for long documentaries, short documentaries, animation and short fiction films produced in India between May 1st 2009 and 25th April 2010. The following awards will be given:
a) Best Long Documentary (40mts and above) with a cash prize of Rs 1.00 lakhs and a certificate.
b) Best Short Documentary (under 40mts) with a cash prize of Rs. 50,000/ and a certificate.
c) Best Short Fiction (under 70mts) with a cash prize of Rs. 50,000/ and a certificate
d) Best Animation with a cash prize of Rs. 25,000/ and a certificate.
e) Best Music Video with a cash prize of Rs. 25,000/ and a certificate Best Campus Film (20min and below) with a cash prize of Rs. 20,000/ and a certificate to the creative team. Details can be had from iffkoffice@yahoo.co.in www.keralafilm.com

39th International Film Festival Rotterdam Closing Night Film: The Aviatrix of Kazbek ( De Vliegenierster van Kazbek

The 39th International Film Festival Rotterdam will close Saturday February 6 with the world premiere of Dutch film The Aviatrix of Kazbek ( De Vliegenierster van Kazbek ), second feature film by Ineke Smits. The film, written by Dutch novelist Arthur Japin and produced by Isabella Films, stars among others Dutch actress Madelief Blanken, Georgian actor Zurab Jgenti, German actor Peter Lohmeyer and Romanian actress Anamaria Marinca from Cristian Mungiu's Golden Palm winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. The Aviatrix of Kazbek is a modern, universal tale of three young people whose lives come together through the extremities of war. During the second world war, on the island of Texel, Marie dreams of mountains. She loves dancing, but the village community expects her to behave. She would like to be an independent woman, but being the only girl in a large family she can hardly come by. It is only when she meets Georgian Goga and Irakli that she breaks away from the restricting and suffocating reality by learning to trust on her fantasy.

MIFF 2010 -Naresh Bedi’s documentary ‘On a Tiger Trail’ and Shih-Ting Hung’s ‘ Viola :The Traveling rooms of a little giant’ are the inaugural films.

The 11th Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films (MIFF 2010) will be held from February 3 to 9 at the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) complex in South Mumbai. The biennial Festival is organised by the Films Division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, in association with Government of Maharashtra.
Veteran film maker and Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner Mr.Yash Chopra will be the Chief Guest of the Opening Ceremony which will be presided over by Ms.Ambika Soni ,Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting.Secretary, Information & Broadcasting, Raghu Menon ,Ajay Devgan, Tanushree Datta and Oscar Award winning sound recordist Resul Pookutty will be present in the opening ceremony. Naresh Bedi’s documentary ‘On a Tiger Trail’ and Shih-Ting Hung’s ‘Viola :The Traveling rooms of a little giant’ are the inaugural films. The Festival received 864 entries from 37 countries .The highlights of the festival are the Special Package on Immigration issues consisting of 4 films from The Netherlands, Cinema legends (31 films), Remembering Freedom Icons (9 films), Puppet Films –by Sanjit Ghosh (8 films), Films on Women’s Issues (10 films), Films from Film Schools (L V Prasad, NID, Satyajit Ray FTI) (28 films), Treasures from NFAI (13 films), Science Fiction Special Package (from USA, France, Italy) (6 films), Persistence Resistance Special Package (5 films) and Films on Environment (including Vatavaran package) (16 films).There is also a special North East Package of 10 films and Swiss-India package of 4 films. The countries in Focus are Bhutan and Argentina.National Film Archives of India, Pune will stage a unique show of pre-cinema projection technique called‘Shambharik Kharolika’ (the magic lantern)

Fourth Karimnagar National Short Documentary Film Festival and Workshop

The Karimnagar Film Society in collaboration with Film
Telangana and Navtarangam.com is organising a three-day film-making
workshop from February 13 to 15 at Film Bhavan in Karimnagar town.
According to film society president V. Anand, experts would give
hands on experience to the participants about film-making, script
writing and many other techniques of making short films. The workshop
will coincide with the fourth national short documentary film festival
to be held from February 13 to 16 at Film Bhavan in Karimnagar.
While the workshops would be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., short films
for the festival would be screened from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. A total of 61
films would be screened. A national jury would select the films for the
Palapitta awards which carry cash prizes and mementoes. Besides, the
Navtarangam web magazine, the Federation of Film Societies of India
would also give prizes to best short films.
Interested persons can contact Mr. Anand on 94405-01281 or email at varalaanand@yahoo.com.