Event
Film screening and discussion
In coastal Karnataka in South India, 56 Gram Panchayats (Village self-governing bodies) hold elections for the Makkala Panchayat (Children's Self Governing Bodies). The elections provide an opportunity for children to help solve developmental issues that they think are important to them and to their villages. Ramchandra PN documents their strategies and the early successes of this childrens’ movement.
The discussion following the screening places Ramchandra’s documentary in conversation with the early stages of a research project developed by two PennGSE doctoral students, Shankar and Dattatreyan, who are interested in how research might be ‘democratized’ through film. How does film blur the line between fact and fiction? How can film contribute to empirical research work? What new possibilities might the film medium provide for social change?
Discussants:
Timothy Corrigan (Penn, Cinema Studies and English)
John L. Jackson, Jr. (Penn, Communication and Anthropology)
Presented in partnership with University of Pennsylvania’s South Asia Center, Center for the Advanced Studies in India, Graduate School of education, and Cinema Studies Program.