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Shorts Program 2

Quamar (Working to Live)

PREEYA NAIR
UK/India, 2007, 23 minutes, DVD. In Urdu with English subtitles

Quamar is a 10-year-old girl who would like to go to school but must help her impoverished family by taking care of the one-room house, cooking and working with her mother to make intricately decorated bangles. The monotonous job has damaged her fingers. Through Quamar's stories we learn of her family's economic and other hardships in Hyderabad. The film was nominated for a children's British Academy of Film and Television Award. It won an Audience Award in the Short Film category at this year's Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles.

Director Preeya Nair was born in the U.K. and grew up in South India. Trained in painting and filmmaking, she has been making children's programs for U.K. television with her husband (director Murali Nair). She lives in India.

Super 30

CHRISTOPHER MITCHELL
UK, 2008, 60 minutes, PAL. In Hindi with English subtitles

Every year, Anand Kumar and his colleagues at the Ramanujam School of Mathematics in Patna, in the impoverished state of Bihar, select 30 teenagers and prepare them to compete for the nationwide competitive entrance exams for the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology. If they are admitted, the students pay nothing. If successful, they could go from grinding poverty to high-paying jobs in technology and business. The course is made possible by the efforts of Kumar, founder of Super 30, and teacher-colleague Abayanand, who also happens to be Bihar's Deputy Chief of Police. Talent and determination overcome the greatest adversities, as we follow the recruits who were selected for Super 30 in September 2006 to the moment they are selected for the IIT in May 2007.

Director Christopher Mitchell is an award-winning documentary writer, producer and director. An independent film-maker since 1988, he is especially interested in South Asia and the Middle East. His topics deal with culture, history, politics, and current affairs and have been seen internationally. Christopher Mitchell is managing director of the British production company ORTV.

Wings of Evolution

RAMESH MOURTHY and RAGHU JEGANATHAN
India/USA, 2007, 48 minutes, MiniDV. In English and some Tamil

Siragu Montessori School, a school for homeless and underprivileged children in the outskirts of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, is a revolutionary educational system for India. A departure from traditional compulsive rote learning and examination-based evaluation, Siragu emphasizes children's understanding of concepts, critical thinking, and applications to real life. Provided free to children, operating with extremely limited resources, and of exemplary quality, the school is an inspiration. An effort is made through the school and the film to bring children together from around the world to exchange ideas and promote cultural understanding.

Directors Ramesh Mourthy and Raghu Jeganathan are part of Accessible Horizon Films, which works to promote change through its members' philosophy, ideas and films. Dedicated to "all those who consider themselves Earthlings and who think beyond boundaries," Accessible Horizon Films delivers films for change, seeking solutions by eliminating differences and delivering peace and equality to living beings.

Sunday, November 16 3:30 PM Phoenix Adlabs Theatres Union Station 9 $10.00