HOT LIPS
 Hot Lips
Tongues on Fire Festival - Venues All over London including Watermans 4 to
24 March 2005
The "Tongues of Fire" festival will see venues all over London screening
some of the best films celebrating the contribution of Asian women to the cinema.
Under the auspices of the National
Film Theatre (NFT) venues across London will fill their screens with works
that celebrate the contribution of Asian women to cinema. Everything from Bollywood
blockbusters to serious art movies will be shown. And with venues like Watermans
, Harrow Civic Centre and the University
of Westminster all participating, west London will certainly play its role;
as it should. West London is after all one of the capital's key locations for
Asian culture in the city.
The festival will be showing works made by both men and women working in Britain
and abroad. All of the films being shown are, in some way, dedicated to showing
the drive and spirit of Asian women. The festival focuses primarily on the experience
of South Asian women and cinema.
Many are linked with this year's festival theme, "the health and well-being
of the Asian community", such a good cause that the Department of Health
has seen fit to sponsor this year's festival.
Waterman's, for example, will be screening Revathy Menon, "Phir Milenge"
("We Will Meet Again") one of the first mainstream Bollywood movies
to tackle the subject of HIV and AIDS. Given that India has the second largest
population of AID-affected people in the world, the film is a reminder of the
overall theme of the festival.
Given the important subject matter, it is easy to understand why this film
is supported by UNAIDS
the Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS & HIV. As Dr Peter Piot, Executive
Director of UNAIDS said, "When Bollywood, one of the worlds largest film
industries with massive audiences produces a film about AIDS, everyone has to
sit up and take notice. It is extremely significant that Bollywood is joining
the struggle against the epidemic and helping to break the silence that surrounds
HIV and AIDS. We applaud the making of this film."
"Phir Milenge" focuses on the experiences of the central character,
the successful young career woman, Tamanna, who learns that she is HIV positive.
The film was directed by Revathy Menon, a former Bollywood actress turned director.
It just goes to show that all that dancing, glamour and make-up doesn't necessarily
mean that one is only talented as a performer!
A full programme of the festival and information on the works being shown is
available at the "Tongues
of Fire" website
For those of you who are more generally interested in Asian culture, you may
remember that this article created by Westlondongrid
took an in-depth at the broad range of cultural expressions of Asian culture
in west London, ranging from music and dance to film.
For those of you who are specifically interested in south Asian film and Bollywood
in particular, then the Punjabilok
website remains one of the best places to track down all those Internet
resources and gossip on the Bollywood film industry.
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