New York Is Hosting Its First Dalit Film Festival This Weekend

This week New your will be hosting its first ever Dalit film festival. The New York Dalit Film and Cultural Festival has been organized by the Ambedkar International Mission USA, Ambedkar Association of North America, Boston Study Group and the Ambedkar Buddhist Association Texas, an co-sponsored by Barnard College, Columbia University and The New School, New York.

The festival aims to “expose to the world the nuances of Dalit life that are buried underneath the popular forms of artistic expressions”, reads the press release. While trying to combat the lack of Dalit representation in movies, the line-up has been curated in a way that the films “offer nuanced, never-before-seen forms of Dalit society and culture.”

Scheduled to be held on held on February 23 and 24, 2019, the festival will be inaugurated by filmmakers Pa Ranjith and Nagraj Manjule along with actress Niharika Singh. The inaugural line-up includes Tamil hit Pariyerum Perumal (2018), Ranjith’s Kaala (2018), Neeraj Ghaywan’s Masaan (2015) and Nagraj Manjule’s Fandry (2013). Premraj’s Saranam Gacchami (2017), Jayan K Cherian’s Papilio Buddha (2013), and Bole India Jai Bheem (2016) are other films scheduled to be screened at the festival. The documentary line-up includes d Kakkoos, Pistulya, We Have Not Come Here to Die, andThe Battle of Bhima Koregaon,

Not limited to cinema, the festival will also exhibit works of art, literature, and photographs by Dalit creatives.

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