UKAFF PRESENTS IN CONVERSATION WITH ‘LIPSTICK UNDER MY BURKHA’ director ALANKRITA SHRIVASTAVA
Tongues on Fire, organiser of the UK Asian Film Festival (UKAFF) is excited to announce an In Conversation with Alankrita Shrivastava hosted by British-Indian actress Nisha Aaliya this Sunday, November 15th 2020 at 2pm (GMT).
Alankrita is an award-winning feature film director and screenwriter from Mumbai who pushes the boundaries of visual art and cultural norms. The webinar will offer a unique lens into the construction of her complex female stories that highlight political and social issues relating to gender. Initially, she made her directional debut with the 2011 film Turning 30 and has gone on to receive critical acclaim for her work. Her second feature film as writer-director, Lipstick Under My Burkha (2016), premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2016. It was banned in India for being too honest of a portrayal of women and Alankrita had to fight a long battle to release it in India. It finally released theatrically in India in July 2017 to critical plaudit and commercial success. Most recently, she has co-written and co-directed the hugely popular Amazon Prime Original series, Made in Heaven (2019).
Programmed as the UK Asian Film Festival’s 22nd edition and 2020 festival opening film, Dolly Kitty And Those Twinkling Stars (2019) is Alankrita’s third feature film as writer-director. Set in a newly developing industrial area on the outskirts of New Delhi, Dolly Kitty And Those Twinkling Stars chronicles the quiet transgression of two female cousins who, through their complicated love-hate equation, enable each other to find freedom. The film integrates key issues within its narrative, from female empowerment, defying the patriarchy and interfaith relationships to challenging gender conformity and the trappings of capitalist society, where human beings are commodified and evaluated by app star-ratings.
Dolly Kitty And Those Twinkling Stars features two of India’s most prolific actresses, Bhumi Pednekar and Konkana Sen Sharma, in the titular roles.
The immersive Q&A session will be hosted by Nisha Aaliya, a British-Indian actress who has worked in the Hindi film industry, along with profound UK theatre productions and various independent British short films and will subsequently prompt valuable insight into the conception and execution of Alankrita’s most famous works. Moreover, Nisha’s involvement in the film and theatre industry offers a bespoke understanding and view of South Asian women in the visual arts.
To join the webinar please register here.
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