Hooray for Bollywood! Clayton State Presents Indian Film Festival, Mar. 17, 23, and 24

The vibrancy of India’s Bollywood cinema - the largest film industry in the world - is coming to Clayton State. Free and open to the public, Clayton State’s Indian Film Festival will present evening screenings of four popular Indian films Mar. 17, 23, and 24 in University Center room 272.  

“Mr. and Mrs. Iyer” is showing tommorrow at 6 p.m., while “Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India” is being screened next Wednesday at 6 p.m. The final two films, “Apur Sansar” and “Ghare Baire” are being shown Mar. 24 at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., respectively. 

Films in the Indian Film Festival are in Hindi or Bengali with English subtitles. A reception of Indian cuisine will follow the Mar. 17 screening of “Mr. and Mrs. Iyer.”

“We are reaching out to the Indian community of the Southern Crescent and hoping to make a connection between Clayton State and that community,” says assistant professor of film & media studies Dr. Virginia Bonner.

Bonner hopes to make that connection through the cultural medium of film - a medium that has the potential not only to teach audiences about other cultures, but also to expose and even undo the often-times inaccurate Hollywood portrayal of other cultures. In the case of Bollywood, watching films made by Indians for Indians can offer a more accurate representation of India’s culture since, as Bonner says, we hear about the Indian culture through Indian voices.

“Cinema is one of our primary social languages of the 21st Century, and as such it can uniquely address social and cultural issues from around the world... Viewing the cinema of other cultures reduces our tendency to stereotype, and it demonstrates respect for those cultures through our willingness to reconsider our a priori notions,” says Bonner.

Plus, viewing Bollywood productions can give Indian students and community members a feeling of pride not only in seeing their culture on the big screen, but also in sharing their culture with non-Indians.

“India has a rich cultural heritage…Although viewing cinemas of other nations by no means replaces the experience of actually visiting or living in those cultures, it definitely increases our ability to learn about those cultures,” shares Bonner.

Committed to sharing films from other countries, Bonner helped organize a Mexican Film Festival in fall semester 2004 and an International Film Festival - which screened films from Mexico, Viet Nam, and India - in spring semester 2004. In addition to featuring foreign films, Bonner organized the on-going Mondays at the Movies film festival showing each Monday at noon this semester in University Center room 272. She also recently organized a special film event in honor of Black History Month.

Clayton State thanks the following people who worked to bring the Indian Film Festival to the University: Bonner; Jose Gonzalez, lecturer of Spanish; Dr. Sandy Harrison, professor of psychology and human services; and Clayton State student Shelley Chinnan (Riverdale). The Indian Film Festival is funded through Clayton State’s Lyceum.

For additional information on the upcoming Indian Film Festival, contact Bonner at virginiabonner@mail.clayton.edu, call (770) 960-4336, or visit http://a-s.clayton.edu/vbonner/film/festivals/indian.html.

If you need to request accommodations related to a disability in order to participate in these programs, please contact the Clayton State Office of Disability Services at (770) 961-3719 no later than one week before the dates of the programs.

Clayton College & State University, “Your University” for Atlanta’s “Southern Crescent,” is a state university of the University System of Georgia, located in Morrow.