Blog

Filmmaker Alka Raghuram in Person!

In a culture where beauty, delicacy, refinement and submission are the prized traits to the ultimate feminine career fulfillment, marriage, young Muslim women in Kolkata challenge stereotypes, learning boxing with Razia Shabnam one of the first Indian women to become a boxing coach and an international referee.

Burqa Boxers is the story of Ajmira Khatoon (16), who wants to make a name for herself to prove to her father and brothers that she amounts to something; Parveen Sajda (24) who dreams of becoming a police officer, and Taslima Khatoon (16) who must learn to negotiate her fear of sexual assault, as they take the first baby steps towards making their dreams true, dreams of creating a different future than the one handed to them. It is a portrait of their dreams and aspirations. The story covers four years in the lives of these boxers and documents the changing landscape of their lives and their transformation. Alka Raghuram, India/France/US, 84mins

RICK PRELINGER’s NO MORE ROAD TRIPS +
Conscientiously caretaking the Cultural Commons, our Genial Helmsman Rick Prelinger graces the gallery once again with his open-hearted audience-participatory feature. His Lost Landscapes screenings are legendary for their communal memory-sharing and respect for the “human scale” of the amateur. Here Rick stitches and hitches a dream-ride through the American Century out of a collection of 9,000 personal travelogs filmed 1924-1979, its narrative tracing a composite auto journey from Atlantic to Pacific. Viewers supply the track with out-loud commentary, not only revealing stories embedded in the landscapes, but also speculating on what we do now, with the necessity of a fossil-fuel halt at hand. Come early for eye-poppers from OC’s own library, including the dazzling Car of Your Dreams, the Grand Canyon in 3-D, and the West Coast launch of Incite#6, the “Forever” issue, with free Artists’ Multiples!