PLACES/FACES Film Screening at Alliance Francaise: NASIR (dir. Arun Karthick) on July 10
After its UAE premiere at CineMAS last week at Manarat Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi, I am happy to host a screening of Arun Karthick’s Nasir at Alliance Francaise on July 10, part of my PLACES/FACES screening.
This will be the third PLACES/FACES screening after launching it last month, and I hope to do more in the coming months.
Nasir will will be followed by a discussion with Sabih Ahmed and Vinita Bharadwaj moderated by me. Read more about them below.
Tickets:
AED 35, free for Alliance Francaise students with promocode COMP, AED 15 for Alliance Francaise Library members with promocode CINEM
You can buy your tickets here.
Saturday, July 10 at 5pm
NASIR
Director: Arun Karthick
India, Netherlands, Singapore, 2020, 78 min, Drama, Tamil with English subtitles, PG-13
Nasir is a gentle man with a hard life. He has to scrimp to pay for his daily shopping, sometimes even missing meals. His adopted son Iqbal has the body of an adult, but the mind and vulnerability of a toddler. In spite of it all, Nasir remains optimistic. He writes love letters to his wife and declaims his poetry, which silences even the most idiotic loudmouth.
Nasir is also a Muslim in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, where Hindu nationalism has taken on ever more virulent forms in recent decades. Propaganda constantly booms from loudspeakers everywhere in the public space. His boss at the textile store makes little effort to hide his contempt for Muslims. The customers treat Nasir as a doormat. In the meantime, Nasir starts worrying about his wife, who is out of town for a few days, and wonders whether he would be better off as a migrant labourer in Abu Dhabi.
Post screening discussions with:
Sabih Ahmed is a curator and writer based in Dubai. His curatorial work and research focus on modern and contemporary art through diverse itineraries, languages and inter-disciplinary formations. He serves as the Associate Director and Curator of the Ishara Art Foundation, a non-profit art organisation in Dubai that is dedicated to presenting contemporary art of South Asia and South Asian diaspora.
Vinita Bharadwaj has previously written about film, art and culture for several regional and international titles. She is also a part-time podcast producer and host of the show KarāmaSūtra.
NOTE: COVID-19 guidelines for all the screenings:
The seats are limited to 50 people with 2 metres social distance.
Face masks must be worn at all times.
