Film Screening: Beyond Partition – A documentary that explores the impact of Partition in Cinema

Beyond Partition (2006), is a Lalit Mohan Joshi film that explores the trauma of Partition (1947) and how it impacted on filmmakers from the Indian subcontinent.

According to Shyam Benegal, it presents a dispassionate view – important, if we must shed the burden of bitterness that people in both nations have been carrying since Independence.

Shot for over a year, this path-breaking documentary has taken within its ambit, relevant films that emerged not only from India, but also from Pakistan and Bangladesh. Renowned filmmakers, Gulzar, Govind Nihalani and Sabiha Sumar reflect on the communal violence they and their families witnessed as refugees. Cinema veteran M.S. Sathyu and celebrated script writer Shama Zaidi question the very idea behind the division, while Pakistan’s Sabiha Sumar focuses on her film and mentions some powerful forces that generated the demand for Pakistan.

Filmmaker Lalit Mohan Joshi skilfully connects the past with the present, exploring issues that continue to vitiate Hindu-Muslim as well as India-Pakistan relations as a continuing legacy of Partition.

Lalit Mohan Joshi is a film historian, documentary filmmaker, critic, former BBC journalist and founder Director, South Asian Cinema Foundation (SACF). His documentaries include ‘Beyond Partition’ (2006), Niranjan Pal: A Forgotten Legend’ (2011) and ‘East Meets West: Indo-British Cinematic Encounters’ (2015). Now he is making a full-length documentary on Kumauni Poets.

Rosie Thomas, Professor of Film at the Centre for Research and Education in Arts and Media (CREAM), University of Westminster to introduce and chair the screening.

Screening to be followed by a brief Q & A.