Wounds of Our Time: Pain That Changes and Challenges an Artist
A Talk by Sourav Sarangi, as a part of the exhibition of recent artworks by Arindam Chatterjee, ‘Not a Dream, Not Peace, Not Love’, presented by Emami Art.
Speaker: Sourav Sarangi (Filmmaker)
Discussant and Moderator: Arjun Gourisaria (Editor, Filmmaker and Musician)
Date: March 30, 2024
Time: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Location: Fifth Floor, Emami Art
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Vivid images from the surrounding reality haunt the artists, evolving into a profound vision within them. For a painter, the inner reflections manifest as diverse expressions on a canvas; for a filmmaker, these embark on a different journey of storytelling. Both processes are intricate and transformative. In response to Arindam Chatterjee’s paintings exhibited at Emami Art, Sourav Sarangi will share insights into his own journey through the borderlands. The discourse will delve deep into the paradox of establishing borders within a river – a division that rendered millions as refugees in their homeland, stripping them of their identity.
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Sourav Sarangi is an independent documentary filmmaker whose recent work includes the film Bilal (2008) about a little boy living with blind parents, Moddhikhane Char (Char: The No Man’s Island) (2012) about the erosion of river Ganga in the India-Bangladesh border which makes hundred and thousand people homeless and stateless, Karbala Memoir (2020) a visual elegy of a tragic war still fresh in the memory of the people and Tiger Army (2023) his latest documentary about the lives of forest guards in the Sundarbans. His films have been widely admired and awarded in many national and international festivals, including the ones in Berlin, Sydney and Dubai. His journey began from the small town of Kanthi to become a fellow of the Film Independent, LA, in collaboration with The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Arjun Gourisaria is an independent editor, director, producer and pedagogue of films. Of the many films he has been associated with, his role as a co-director and Editor for the feature film, 'Sthaniya Sambaad' (Spring in the Colony) in 2010, Editor for the Hindi Feature film 'Dubai Return', 2006, Editor for Bengali fantasy feature film 'Patalghar', 2002 deserves special mention. He has also worked extensively as an editor for documentary films, such as ‘Shut up Sona’, 2018, ‘Gulabi Gang’, 2013, Rajnath Kamath’s feature length documentary on Indian Theatre director Habib Tanvir- 'Tanvir Ka Safarnama' (Tanvir's Travelogue), 2007 and Editor and Director for 'Jesuits of Southern Bengal', a feature-length study of the relationship of Jesuit priests and Christianity with the people of Bengal in 1992.
Gourisaria has also played his role as a story – editor for 'Who Killed Gandhi', a Canadian feature-length television documentary directed by award-winning Canadian filmmaker Anand Ramayya in 2013. Not to miss, he was the Managing Director at Black Magic Motion Pictures Limited from Managing Director at Black Magic Motion Pictures Limited from 1995 to 2010, which was, in 2009, ranked amongst the top 5 advertising film production companies in India. As head of Black Magic, directed and edited over 500 television commercials for various national and international brands. He has taught numerous courses as a visiting faculty in Editing and Advertising Film Making departments of Film & Television Institute of India, Pune, Satyajit Ray Film Institute, Kolkata, Whistling Woods Film School, Mumbai, MIT-ID, Pune.
Gourisaria is an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune and a Gold Medalist Graduate in Economics from Jadavpur University, Kolkata.