Dirty Laundry
A still from the documentary “Dirty Laundry”
Director:
Sanjeev ChatterjeeWritten and Narrated by Amitava Kumar
Duration: 42 mins
Synopsis:
This film explores questions of race, nationality, home, belonging and justice through the lens of an Indian visiting South Africa and meeting those people of Indian origin who have been involved in the anti-apartheid struggle . Some are descendants of the early Indian migrants and indentured laborers in South Africa–a few of whom were represented, in their legal battles with racial injustice, by a young lawyer who would later be called Mahatma Gandhi.
I screened it tonight as a part of the annual Gandhi lecture that I was delivering at Vassar College. This film is a sequel to “Pure Chutney” which is a film that Sanjeev and I made a few years ago. “Dirty Laundry” is also being shown at the 2006 South Asian International Film Festival in New York City.
P.S. Here is my friend Vinay Lal on Gandhi the Gambler. The piece was written on Gandhi’s birth anniversary.
Congratulations, and I hope to see it some time.
Comment by Harpreet — October 5, 2006 @ 1:30 pm
Just want to let folks know that Dirty Laundry will be screened in New York as part of the South Asian International Film Festival on Saturday, October 7 at the Clearview Theater in Manhattan. For details visit www.SAIFF.org
Comment by Sanjeev Chatterjee — October 5, 2006 @ 5:00 pm
I am going to see the film on Saturday. Will Amitava be present? And if not then, when? “Pure Chutney” cried out for an audience-scriptwriter interchange and postmortem; the one for which I was present, at the Marxist Literary Group, was unforgettable and very funny. So I hope that the sequel to “Pure Chutney” will include an equivalent sequel heckling-and-carping-at-the-author session.
Comment by Hap — October 5, 2006 @ 11:02 pm
where/when else will this be showing? i can’t come on saturday, alas, and would love to see it.
Comment by elizabeth — October 6, 2006 @ 12:06 am
I was an atom in the large and appreciative crowd that viewed “Dirty Laundry” this afternoon. In this unsentimental film (unlike the meller with which it shared the marquee), I cried a bit. Subtle factors brought this on, no doubt–any U.S. native like me feels African history with special force, because it entwines my own, keeps returning in the soul and gospel music I hear, is evident in my school (City College) newspaper, “The Paper: For People of African Descent.” Africa has something of a secondary role in this film. Yet, like other frames and margins, Africa uncannily usurps the center. It takes the stage briefly in astounding footage of the veldt and beaches, and more powerfully still in the opening shots of African impromptu ska or traditional musicians. These sounds stayed with me through the ensuing film, as apparently they stayed with the Indian-Africans who occupy center stage throughout the film. Awed, humble, respectful of and active in the recent history of Africa, the Indian-Africans featured in this film take on the grandeur of the political struggle in which they took part. I have not seen examples of selfless political activism this inspiring for a very long time, not since the early days of Nicaragua’s Sandinista revolt. Shy, self-effacing, and piercingly intelligent and articulate, the Indian-Africans included members of parliament, guerrilla fighters, political prisoners who served time with Nelson Mandela, and especially women who carried on the fight with a heroism I last saw in Pontecorvo’s _The Battle of Algiers_. A must-see film for all of Amitava’s blog readers!
Comment by Hap — October 7, 2006 @ 10:29 pm