Writing Histories for Indian Cinema, Chapter Two
Oct. 30, 2014 - Nov. 1, 2014
Organized by
Department of Film Studies, Jadavpur University
in collaboration with
Pad.ma
October 30-31, 2014
Anita Banerjee Memorial Hall, Jadavpur University main campus
The 2014 annual seminar organized by Department of Film Studies, Jadavpur University, wishes to revisit the theme of our 2009 seminar on Writing Histories for Indian Cinema. Apart from continuing the debates on Indian film history and historiography, this year’s seminar will focus on the ongoing archival initiative hosted at http://indiancine.ma, an initiative of the http://Pad.ma project with which the Department and The Media Lab, JU, has become closely associated. While that platform promises to be a valuable research and teaching aid it has also generated debates about methodologies as well as the intellectual content of the discipline of film studies.
The first of this two-day event shall focus on historical questions pertaining to periods, genres, regions, institutions and inter- media relationships. The second day will begin with reflections on contemporary practice and then shift to the idea and practice of digital archiving, bringing on board questions such as conceptualizing regional cinemas or reconstructing filmographies against the new digital horizon. Practitioners and researchers who have worked on the http://indiancine.ma platform shall critically reflect on their experience, followed by Cinemathon, a hands-on workshop to acquaint scholars and students with the processes of digital annotation.
Subhajit Chatterjee
Moinak Biswas
Seminar Coordinators
Programme
Day 1: Oct 30, 2014, Thursday
Welcome address: Head, Department of Film Studies
10-00 am-10.15 am
Tea break: 10.15- 10.30 am
Session I: 10.30 am-11.15 am
Chair: Moinak Biswas (Department of Film Studies, Jadavpur University)
Paper 1: Myths, Markets and Panics: Speculating about the Proto-Cinematic Historical Significance of the Popularity of Two Parsi Theatre Plays at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
Kaushik Bhaumik (Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi)
Session II: 11.15 am -12.00 pm
Chair: Sanjoy Mukhopadhyay (Department of Film Studies, Jadavpur University)
Paper 2: Theatre and Cinema: Aspects of a Cultural History
M. Madhava Prasad (English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad)
Session III: 12.00- 12.45 pm
Chair: Subhajit Chatterjee (Dept. of Film Studies, Jadavpur University)
Paper 3: Risk, Precarity and Desire: ‘Accidental’ Histories of Film Work in Bombay's Early Talkie Industry (1930s-1940s)
Debashree Mukherjee (New York University)
Lunch: 12-45 pm- 1.30 pm
Session IV: 1.30 pm – 2.15 pm
Chair: Ashish Rajadhyaksha (Centre for the Study of Culture & Society, Bangalore)
Paper 4: Transitional Genres: Reflections on the Bengali ‘Mystery-Thriller’ Film in Post-Independence Era
Subhajit Chatterjee (Dept. of Film Studies, Jadavpur University)
Session V: 2.15 pm – 3.00 pm
Chair: Manas Ghosh (Dept. of Film Studies, Jadavpur University)
Paper 5: Resurgence of the Regional: Towards the 'New-Turn' in Marathi Cinema
Hrishikesh Ingle (English Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad)
Tea Break : 3.00-3.15 pm
Session VI: 3.15 – 4.00 pm
Chair : M. Madhava Prasad (English & Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad)
Paper 6: Watching Without Seeing: Contemporary Bengali Popular Films and Unpopulated Cinemas
Madhuja Mukherjee (Dept. of Film Studies, Jadavpur University)
Session VII: 4.00 pm – 4.45 pm
Chair: Anindya Sengupta (Dept. of Film Studies, Jadavpur University)
Paper 7: Cinema Halls: The Lost Neighbourhood
Dhriti Sundar Roy Chowdhury (Dept. of Film Studies, Jadavpur University)
Day 2: Oct 31, 2014, Friday
Session I: 10.30 am-11.15 am
Chair : Madhuja Mukherjee (Dept. of Film Studies, Jadavpur University)
Paper 8: Bombay Noir
Lalitha Gopalan (The University of Texas at Austin, USA)
Tea Break: 11.15 am-11.30 am
Session II: 11.30 am-12.15 pm
Chair: Abhijit Roy (Dept. of Film Studies, Jadavpur University)
Paper 9: Reconstructing the Filmography - Part II
Ashish Rajadhyaksha (Centre for the Study of Culture & Society, Bangalore)
Session III: 12. 15 – 12.45 pm
Chair: Shradhanjali Tamang (Dept. of Film Studies, Jadavpur University)
Presentation on History/Historicity in Malayalam Cinema of the 1960s and 1970s
Satish Poduval (English & Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad)
Lunch: 12.45 – 1.30 pm
Session IV 1.30 – 3.15 pm
Chair: Ashish Rajadhyaksha
Indiancine.ma panel presentations by research scholars associated with Pad.ma, CAMP, Mumbai and the Media Lab, Jadavpur University:
Ananya Parikh
Debashree Mukherjee
Maharghya Chakrabarty
Utsab Sen
Coffee Break: 3.15-3.30 pm
Session V: 3.30- 5.00
Cinemathon: Indiancine.ma workshop
To be conducted by Zinnia Ambapardiwala, Ananya Parikh and Ashish Rajadhyaksha
Valedictory Address: 5.00 pm
