The spirit of freedom comes alive at IFFI 2007

Panaji, Nov 28 (IANS) An exhibition to mark the 60th year of independence at the 38th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) is showcasing selected film posters that help visitors rediscover the spirit of freedom.

The exhibition has posters of films ranging from recent hits 'Chak De! India' and 'Lage Raho Munna Bhai' to long forgotten names like 'Anand Math' and 'Achhut Kanya'.

Aarti Karkhanis, head of research and documentation at the National Film Archive (NFA) told IANS: 'This year the theme is spirit of freedom because it coincides with the 60th year of independence and 150th year of the first war of independence.

'We chose 'Munna Bhai' because this film explained that Gandhism is relevant today. It has been listed in our last category -- Neo Nationalism -- which is about how nationalism is perceived today.'

The exhibition has about 200 posters in all Indian languages. Organised by the NFA and inaugurated by Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, the exhibition is educative, informative, and helpful for those who are interested in learning about cinema.

'From Kannada we have 'Kaneshwar Rama', from Bengali we have '42' and 'Bhuli Nai'. For some films which are relevant to this theme and we don't have wall posters, we have used photographs,' said Karkhanis.

Displayed at the Kala Academy here, the show is divided by topic and includes explanations.

'We have begun this exhibition from 1930, the birth of the Indian struggle -- Lokmanya Tilak had called for swadeshi movement at that time and Dada Saheb Phalke made the first Swadeshi film 'Raja Harishchandra', and later 'Sri Kirshna Janam'. In other words, Swadeshi is directly related to political struggle,' Karkhanis said.

Another category is titled Reformation.

'According to Gandhiji, there was no sense in achieving political freedom unless we achieve freedom from social evils. So we have 'Achhut Kanya', which was a crusade against untouchability,' Karkhanis said.

The next section is Dawn of Independence. In this category, films echoing the tragedy of partition and sense of loss like Bengali film 'Chinnamool' (Uprooting) and Ritwik Ghatak's movies are on display.

The fourth section of the exhibition is titled Armed Aggressions and Revisiting the Past.

'India had to face number of armed aggressions like Pakistan War, China War, so films which are made on these particular themes like 'Hindustan Ki Kasam' and 'Haqeeqat' are chosen. As far as revisiting the past is concerned we have Richard Attenborough's 'Gandhi',' Karkhanis said.

The last segment Neo Nationalism has been divided into two parts.

'One part displays films that make India proud, where filmmakers try to tell the audience that they should return to India or Indian traditions are better.

'In the second we have taken films that tackle communal violence and terrorism. In this category we have kept films like 'Roza' that talks about terrorism in Kashmir and 'Sarfarosh', which tries to tell why there is terrorism in India and how partition has affected both India and other countries,' added Karkhanis.