Connect with me on branded.me

Flavio M I have a dream

Connect with Flavio on branded​.me

Join millions of professionals and one of the fastest growing professional communities in the word.

ACCEPT INVITE

branded.me If you wish to stop receiving these emails, click here . 859 Harrison St. Suite A San Francisco 94107

Asiatica Film Mediale - Ice Poison, Midi Z

Today I'm here to write about an indipendent movie screened for the first time in Italy during the Asian movies' festival Asiatica Film Mediale. I'm talking about Ice Poison (Bing Du), the fourth movie by the talented Burmese director Midi Z. This movie had its world premiere at 2014 Berlin International Film Festival and it has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at 2015 Oscars. Midi Z, the gifty director of Ice Poison, was born in Burma in 1982 and later moved to Taiwan for studying and training. This latest movie comes after Return to Burma (2011), Poor Folk (2012) and Taipei Factory (2013), every of which have received nominees and awards in several Film Festivals worldwide.

Here it is the synopsis of the movie, taken directly from Asiatica Film Mediale's website:

A young farmer and his father are barely able to survive on their meagre corn harvest and so they make their way down from the mountains to the village to borrow money from their relatives working in jade mines or on opium plantations.

But missing paperwork, deceit and corruption have left them impoverished too.

Finally, the father pawns his cow for a moped so that his son can earn a living as a taxi driver. His first customer is Sanmei, who has returned to Myanmar to bury her grandfather.

She decides not to go back to China and to get out of an arranged marriage in order to begin a new life with her son in her old country.

When Sanmei accepts a job as a drug runner she persuades the young farmer to be her driver.

And just to have a foretaste of the plot, here is the official trailer of the movie.

I have come accross this amazing movie by chance, because, at the eleventh hour (!!), I was given the pleasure to be his interpreter during my volunteer collaboration with Asiatica Film Mediale.

So, hope you can enjoy the Q&A with the public after the screening of the movie, despite the poor quality of the video (sorry for that!)...

Asiatica Film Mediale 2014 from sempreindia on Vimeo.

 Oggi vorrei scrivere qualcosa a proposito di un film indipendente trasmesso in anteprima per l'Italia ad Asiatica Film Mediale, un festival di cinema asiatico a Roma. Il film in questione è Ice Poison (Bing Du), quarta opera del talentuoso regista birmano Midi Z. Questo film è stato presentato alla prima mondiale al Festival del Cinema Internazionale di Berlino 2014 ed è candidato agli Oscar 2015 nella categoria Miglior Film in Lingua Straniera. Midi Z, il talentuoso regista di Ice Poison, è nato in Birmania nel 1982 e successivamente si è trasferito a Taiwan per studiare e fare pratica nella regia. Questo suo ultimo film segue le altre opere del regista, Return to Burma (2011), Poor Folk (2012) e Taipei Factory (2013), ognuna delle quali ha ricevuto numerose candidature e premi in diversi festival cinematografici in tutto il mondo. 

Questa è la sinossi del film, presa direttamente dal sito di Asiatica Film Mediale:

Un giovane contadino e suo padre sopravvivono a malapena con lo scarso raccolto di granturco, decidono quindi di scendere dalle montagne verso il villaggio per chiedere un prestito ai parenti che lavorano nelle miniere di giada o nelle piantagioni d’oppio.

Però la sparizione di documenti, inganno e corruzione hanno impoverito anche loro.

Alla fine, il padre impegna le sue mucche per un motorino in modo che il figlio possa guadagnare come tassista.

Il suo primo cliente è Sanmei, tornata in Birmania per seppellire il nonno.

La ragazza decide di non tornare in Cina e tirarsi fuori da un matrimonio combinato in modo da cominciare una nuova vita con suo fi- glio nel suo vecchio paese.

Quando Sanmei accetta un lavoro come corriere di droga, convince il giovane contadino a farle da autista.

E, solo per avere un assaggio della trama, ecco il trailer ufficiale del film.

Ho scoperto questo straordinario film per puro caso, perché, all'ultimo minuto (!!), mi è stata offerta l'opportunità di essere la sua interprete durante la mia collaborazione volontaria con Asiatica Film Mediale.

Quindi, spero possa piacervi il Q&A con il pubblico dopo la proiezione del film, nonostante la scarsa qualità del video (mi scuso per questo!).

 

পহেলা বৈশাখ - Bangla New Year - Capodanno Bengalese

The Bangladeshi community in Rome has just celebrated their New Year in a great and coloured festival that lasted for five days. 

Known either as the পহেলা বৈশাখ (pohela boishakh = First of boishakh month) or as নববর্ষ (noboborsho = New Year), the Bengali New Year is celebrated woldwide according to Bengali Calendar, which, as other Southern Asian calendars, commences in mid-April of the Gregorian Year, with Boishakh month as the first. 

Traditionally a rural festive occasion because of the link with rice harvest time, during the centuries Bengali New Year has become a great festival held in both rural and urban context. The Bengali New Year starts at dawn and is marked by processions, fairs, folk and traditional music and dance events. People start this auspicious day cleaning their houses and then, dressed in new and fancy traditional clothes, invite relatives and friends as guest to spend the day together eating special dishes and enjoying the event.   

 In Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, New Year is celebrated with massive gatherings and parades, the most famous of which, the Mongol Shobhajatra, is organized by the students of the Faculty of Fine Arts of Dhaka University. Here and in other big cities, the day is marked by several fairs decicated to every aspect of Bengali culture, from dance to music and from food to handicraft. 

As I was saying, this festival is held every year not only in Bangladesh and in the indian state of West Bengal, but also in every country in which Bengali community live. Since Italy is the second European country for Bengali residents after UK, New Year's fair (বৈশাখী মেলা, Boishakhi Mela) is a steady occasion for the Roman Bangladeshi community to celebrate and also to let italian people know their culture and traditions.      

This year, from the 1st to the 5th of May, here in Rome Bangladeshi community celebrated their New Year with a great and coloured festival. According to the statistical survey taken by Rome municipality in 2012, the Bangladeshi community is one of the most numerous in the capital, with approximately 19000 legal residents. This Year (1421 according to Bengali calendar) the festival has reached its fifteenth edition and has been organized by many bangladeshi associations, headed by Dhuumcatu, one of the most famous association here in Rome, with nearly 10000 members. It has been held in a public park at Casalbertone, a neighborhood in the eastern part of Rome close to the ones with more bangladeshi residents, namely Prenestina area and Tor Pignattara (known locally as "Bangla Town"). Starting at 8:00 pm, along with several food and handicraft stalls, there has been music and dance performances, together with art exhibition and public meeting and debates about the socio-economic issues of migrants and the improvement of multicultural cohabitation. Other themes have been the promotion of ecological sustainability, the experiences of second generations and proposals about the betterment of the neighborhood (in fact, the very spot of the event has been looked after by Dhuumcatu members, who has cleaned it and prevented illegal activities such as prostitution or drug trafficking to take place).   

 This event is the proof that multicultural cohabitation is a potential reality which can be gained only by showing the daily life of migrants and by letting italian people know bangladeshi culture and traditions. Unfortunately in Italy still exists a lot of misconceptions (not to say ostility) about migrants, because of unawareness and ignorance and also because of the xenophobical propaganda of many political right-wing parties. So, only through event like this we can learn about other cultures and promote multiculturalism. 
 I've personally been at the festival with Maria Grazia Priori, a talented photographer whose great photos can be seen here. I really would like to thank her for her contribution, hoping that it will continue for other reports about Bangladeshi and Southern Asian communities that live here in Rome.

 Finally, I would like to share a curious fact that I've experienced at the festival. As you can see from the photos, I've met a bangladeshi little girl, Prerona, who did a dance performance at the event. Curiously, Prerona has been one of my students last year, during my internship as a teacher of Italian L2 (Italian as Second Language for foreigners) at her Primary School in Rome. Since among the other apprentices I was the only one who can speak bengali, my university sent me to a Primary School in which there are a lot of bangladeshi students and in fact the majority of my students were bangladeshi children. There I worked with Prerona and her schoolmates and I've met also many bangladeshi parents, helping regular teachers in communicating with them during school/families meeting. I've always been greeted with kindness and respect by both the children and their parents, experiencing the extreme need for multicultural and multilinguistic assistance in public sectors, about which in Italy there is still much to do.
Fortunately, events like the Bengali New Year let me hope for the best in the future!!!

 La comunità bangladeshi di Roma ha appena celebrato il suo Capodanno con una festa che è durata cinque giorni.

Conosciuto come পহেলা বৈশাখ (pohela boishakh = primo del mese di Boishakh) o come নববর্ষ (noboborsho = Anno Nuovo), il Capodanno Bengalese è un evento celebrato in tutto il mondo sulla base del calendario bengalese che, come gli altri calendari dell'Asia Meridionale, ha inizio a metà Aprile del calendario Gregoriano, con il Boishakh come primo mese dell'anno.

Tradizionale festività rurale collegata al raccolto del riso, durante i secoli il Capodanno Bengalese è diventato un grande evento che si tiene sia nelle zone rurali che in quelle urbane. Il Capodanno inizia all'alba e la giornata è caratterizzata da processioni, fiere ed eventi di musica e danza folk e tradizionale. La gente dà inizio a questa lieta giornata pulendo a fondo la casa e poi, vestita in abiti tradizionali, invitando parenti e amici per passare la festa insieme mangiando cibi particolari e partecipando all'evento.

A Dhaka, la capitale del Bangladesh, il Nuovo Anno viene celebrato in grandi raduni e parate, la più famosa delle quali, la Mongol Shobhajatra, è organizzata dagli studenti della Facoltà di Arti Figurative dell'Università di Dhaka. Qui e in altre grandi città, la giornata è caratterizzata da numerose fiere dedicate ai vari aspetti della cultura bengalese, dalla danza alla musica e dal cibo all'artigianato.

Come stavo dicendo, questo evento si tiene annualmente non solo in Bangladesh e nello stato indiano del West Bengal, ma anche in ogni paese dove è presente la comunità bengalese. Siccome l'Italia è il secondo paese europeo per numero di bangladeshi dopo la Gran Bretagna, la fiera del Capodanno (বৈশাখী মেলা, Boishaki Mela) è un'occasione consolidata negli anni per la comunità bengalese romana per festeggiare e anche per far conoscere agli italiani la loro cultura e le loro tradizioni.

Quest'anno, dal primo al cinque Maggio, qui a Roma la comunità bangladeshi ha celebrato il Capodanno con un grande e colorato evento. Secondo le statistiche elaborate dal Comune di Roma nel 2012, la comunità bangladeshi è una delle più numerose della capitale, con circa 19000 residenti. Quest'anno (il 1421 secondo il calendario bengalese) il festival ha raggiunto la XV edizione ed è stato organizzato da svariate associazioni bangladeshi, capeggiate da Dhuumcatu, una delle associazioni più famose qui a Roma, con circa 10000 membri. Si è tenuto presso il parchetto di Casalbertone, un quartiere della zona est della città vicino a quelli con la più alta concentrazione di bangladeshi, cioè la Prenestina e Tor Pignattara (conosciuta localmente come “Bangla Town”). A partire dalle 20:00, accanto a numerosi stand di cibi tipici e artigianato, ci sono stati spettacoli di musica e danza, insieme a mostre d'arte e incontri e dibattiti pubblici a proposito delle questioni socio-economiche dei migranti e dello sviluppo della convivenza multiculturale. Altri temi sono stati l'ecosostenibilità, le esperienze delle seconde generazioni e proposte sul miglioramento del quartiere (infatti lo stesso sito dell'evento è stato curato dai membri dell'associazione Dhuumcatu, che l'hanno ripulito e hanno evitato che si verificassero attività illegali come la prostituzione e il traffico di droga).

Questo evento è la dimostrazione che la convivenza multiculturale è una potenziale realtà che può essere pienamente raggiunta solo mostrando la vita quotidiana dei migranti e facendo sì che gli italiani possano conoscere la cultura e le tradizioni bangladeshi. Sfortunatamente, in Italia esistono ancora molti pregiudizi (per non dire aperta ostilità) verso i migranti, a causa dell'ignoranza e anche a causa della propaganda xenofoba di molti partiti di destra. Quindi, è solo attraverso eventi come questo che si può imparare qualcosa di nuovo sulle altre culture e promuovere il multiculturalismo.

Sono personalmente stata al festival insieme a Maria Grazia Priori, una fotografa di talento che ha scattato le foto qui presenti. Colgo l'occasione per ringraziarla per il suo contributo, sperando che la nostra collaborazione possa continuare per altri report sulla comunità bangladeshi o sulle altre dell'Asia Meridionale.

Infine, vorrei condividere un fatto curioso che mi è successo alla festa. Come si può vedere dalle foto, ho incontrato una ragazzina bangladeshi, Prerona, che si era appena esibita in uno spettacolo di danza. Curiosamente, Prerona è stata una dei miei studenti l'anno scorso, durante il mio tirocinio come insegnante di Italiano L2 (Italiano come seconda lingua per stranieri) presso la sua scuola Primaria. Visto che tra i tirocinanti ero l'unica che sapeva parlare bengali, la mia università mi ha mandato in una scuola con molti studenti bangladeshi e infatti la maggioranza dei miei studenti era di origine bengalese. Lì ho lavorato con Prerona e con i suoi compagni e ho anche conosciuto molti genitori bangladeshi, attraverso l'attività di mediazione linguistica e culturale svolta durante i colloqui scuola/famiglie. Sono sempre stata accolta con gentilezza e rispetto sia dai bambini che dai genitori, facendo personale esperienza dell'estremo bisogno di assistenza multiculturale e multilinguistica del settore pubblico, fattore in cui l'Italia ha ancora molta strada da fare.

Fortunatamente, eventi come il Capodanno Bengalese mi fanno ben sperare per il futuro!!!

हास्यास्पद कहानी - Funny story - Racconto divertente

उस उच्चाधिकारी के पास सब कुछ था , कार से लेकर इलेकट्रानिक लाईटर तक |
फिर भी एक बेचैनी थी कि मिटने का नाम नहीं लेती थी | लगता था यह  चीज़ और खरीद लें तो शायद को शांति पहुंचे। … लेकिन शांति फिर किसी चीज़ की ओट में जा छिपती | बाद में उन्हें समझ आया कि उनकी आत्मा को आध्यात्म की तलाश है |

सूटेड बूटेड तन लिये , व्याकुल मन लिये उन्होंने उन प्रसिद्ध गुरु जी के वातानुकूलित आश्रम के कमरे में प्रवेश किया | गुरु ध्यानमग्न थे , थोड़ी ही देर में उन्होंने आंखें खोलीं | इन्होंने अपनी व्यथा बखान करना शुरू की |
गुरु ने उपदेश देना शुरू किया ,
      " बच्चा तू अपने सब बुरे काम छोड़ दे ( जिसमें सुरा और सुंदरी भी शामिल थे ) पाप मत कर , झूठ मत बोल , किसी को सता मत | "
      " गुरूजी , सब मंज़ूर है | "
      " अब कोई और शका | "
उन्होंने कुछ हिचकिचाते हुए कहा , " नऽऽहीं | "
      " बच्चा | शर्म मत कर | गुरु से क्या छिपाना ! "
      " बात यह है ," उन्होंने सकुचाते हुए कहना शुरू किया , " मेरा विभाग ऐसा है कि दूसरी आमदनी का रोकना बहुत मुश्किल है |
      न लो तो ऊपर से निचे तक सब नाराज़ | आजकल नौकरी तक को खतरा हो जाता है |  मैं बड़े सकट में हूँ प्रभो ! कोई उपाय बताइये | "
 

गुरूजी ने आंखें बंद कीं पांच मिनट बाद खोल कर बोले ,
      " ऐसा करना बच्चा !
        उस कमाई का कुछ प्रतिशत हमारे आश्रम में दान कर दिया करना |
        तेरे सब पाप नष्ट हो जायेंगे | "

कहकर गुरु डनलप के आसन पर आंख मूंद फिर ध्यान मग्न हो गये |

A high officer had everything, from a car to an electronic lighter.

Even though, he felt some kind of restlessness that didn't seem to disappear. It seems to him that if he bought something, maybe his soul would be fulfilled ... but then peace of mind came to seek refuge in every stuff he bought. At the end he realized that his soul was looking for spirituality.

Well-dressed (literally: suited booted = dressed in a suit and with boots, tn) and agitated, he went into a room of the air-conditioned ashram of a well-known guru. The guru was deep in meditation and immediately after he opened his eyes. The man started to express his sorrow.

Then the guru began to give his preaching:

        "My son, leave all your bad habits (which included women and alcohol), don't sin, 

         don't lie, don't annoy anyone."

        "Guruji, all this is accepted."

        "So now [tell me] any other worry."

He said hesitating: "N-n-no."

        "My son, don't be ashamed. What's there to hide from your guru!"

       "The fact is that" he started to say shyly, "in my department is so difficult to put an end to bribery (literally: the other income, tn). Not taking them will make everyone angry, from the highest official to the lowest ranks. Nowadays even work has become dangerous. I'm in trouble, my lord! Give me any solution."

The guru had his eyes closed and five minutes after having opened them he said:

         "Don't act like this, my son!

           Donate a percentage of this income to our ashram.

           All your sins will be eliminated."

Having said that, the guru came back to sit on his dunlop (british brand known, among the other products, for latex mattress, tn) seat and, having closed his eyes, he fell again in deep meditation.

Un alto ufficiale possedeva tutto, dall'automobile all'accendino elettronico.

Tuttavia aveva un'inquietudine che non voleva andarsene. Gli sembrava che se avesse comprato qualche altra cosa forse la sua anima si sarebbe appagata ... ma poi la pace era andata a rifugiarsi in ognuna di quelle cose. Dopo egli comprese che la sua anima stava cercando la spiritualità. 

Vestito di tutto punto (letteralmente: suited booted = con completo e stivali, ndt) e con l'animo afflitto, egli entrò in una stanza dell'eremitaggio con aria condizionata di un famoso maestro. Il maestro era immerso nella meditazione e un attimo dopo aprì gli occhi. Allora l'uomo cominciò a descrivere i motivi della sua sofferenza.

Il maestro iniziò a dispensare i suoi consigli:

         " Figliolo, abbandona tutti i malaffari (che comprendevano le donne e l'alcool), 

            non peccare, non mentire, non infastidire nessuno."

         " Maestro,  tutto ciò è ben accetto."

         " Adesso [esponimi] qualche altro dubbio"

Egli disse esitando: "N-n-no"

         "Figliolo, non vergognarti. Cosa c'è da nascondere al tuo maestro!"

         "Il fatto è che", egli cominciò a dire timidamente, " nel dipartimento dove lavoro porre fine alle bustarelle (letteralmente: gli altri guadagni, ndt) è molto difficile. Non prenderle farebbe arrabbiare tutti, dalle alte cariche fino ai ranghi inferiori. Oggigiorno perfino il lavoro è diventato pericoloso. Mi trovo in grandi difficoltà, signore! Mi dia una soluzione."

Il maestro aveva gli occhi chiusi e avendoli aperti dopo cinque minuti disse:

         "Non fare così figliolo!

          Dona una percentuale di quei guadagni al nostro eremitaggio.

          Così tutti i tuoi peccati verranno eliminati."

Detto ciò il maestro tornò a sedersi sulla sua stuoia dunlop (marca britannica produttrice, tra l'altro, anche di materassi in lattice, ndt) e, chiusi gli occhi, si immerse nuovamente in meditazione.

The rise of Hindu Right

 

Since India is going to face the 2014 general elections, today I would like to write a short retrospective history of the major opposition party, the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party - Indian People's Party) and of the ideology that supports it. Founded in 1980, this can seem a relatively young party, but actually one has to consider it as the new "politically correct" form of an old ideology in indian contemporary politics, namely the Hindu Right. 

Dating back at the time of indian Indipendence, there was a strong opposition to the democratic and secular idea of India endorsed by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of Indipendent India. Contrary to this modern ideology, many cultural and political traditionalist groups began to emerge in the public debate. 

The most influential of this groups is the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh - National Volunteer Organization), which had already been founded in 1925 but tragically hit the headlines in 1948, when Mahatma Gandhi was killed by Nathuram Godse, a brahmin associated with the organization. The RSS, officially a cultural association, is a paramilitary organization imbued with conservative values and a strong and hierarchical structure .

The ideology that is behind the RSS is known as Hindutva (translatable as "hinduness"), a concept which relates nationalism with hinduism, stating that the real indian identity is only the hindu one. Developed by V. D. Savarkar, a conservative ideologist, this concept is in deep contrast with any secular and inclusive idea of India - like that of the Indian National Congress - because its main aim is that of the preservation and protection of hindu value system. The kind of hindu culture designed by Hindutva polarize it against other social and religious components of indian nation, especially from the Muslim, creating and stirring up disorders and communal violence. 

Under the aegis of RSS, during the decades an entire universe of associations and movements has been formed, all united under the collective name of Sangh Parivar (Family of Associations). The core groups of the Sangh Parivar are - in addition to the RSS - the VHP (Vishva Hindu Parishad - World Hindu Council) and the BJP (nowadays, whereas in the past other political parties were part of the association, like the Bharatiya Janata Sangh). In short, in the Sangh the RSS is the cultural branch, the BJP is the political one and the VHP is the religious arm.

To sum up the ideology of Hindutva, I think this quotation by D. R. Goyal's history of the RSS is very telling and meaningful:

Hindus have lived in India since times immemorial; Hindus are the nation because all culture, civilisation and life is contributed by them alone; non-Hindus are invaders or guests and cannot be treated as equal unless they adopt Hindu traditions, culture, etc.; the non-Hindus, particularly Muslims and Christians, have been enemies of everything Hindu and are, therefore, to be treated as threats; [...] those who talk of national unity as the unity of all those who live in this country are motivated by the selfish desire of cornering minority votes and are therefore traitors; the unity and consolidation of the Hindus is the dire need of the hour because the Hindu people are surrounded on all sides by enemies; the Hindus must develop the capacity for massive retaliation and offence is the best defence; lack of unity is the root cause of all the troubles of the Hindus and the Sangh is born with the divine mission to bring about that unity.

Source: Ramachandra Guha, India After Gandhi: the History of the World's Largest Democracy, 

Macmillan, 2007, p. 646

 During the decades, Hindu fundamentalism has gained more and more strength, especially among the uneducated masses and the new emerging middle class - who had abandoned the Congress socialist model of economy in favour of more market-oriented policies - that were looking for a political representation built upon identity lines. The reasons for this rise are plenty and context-related. Between them, the most striking one is the parallel decline of the National Congress in the late 80s and in the 90s, when the newly-formed BJP was building and consolidating political consent thanks to both propaganda and violent actions. 

The turning point in this process was the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, the final act of a long dispute about a sixteenth-century mosque in the Uttar Pradesh town of Ayodhya. To shorten this long story, is enough to say that the VHP, with the complicity of right-wing hindu parties, had for long begun to allege that the site of the mosque was the Ram janmabhumi (the exact place of birth of hindu god Rama) and therefore started to mobilize people in order to protect this holy site from muslim presence. Their activities have been conducted up to the demand for the demolition of the mosque, event that was finally achieved on 6th December, thanks to the connivance of the government of Uttar Pradesh, led by Kalyan Singh, a BJP politician. 

From then on, the BJP has showed an hidden dual identity. On the one hand, the party is a democratic organization, loyal to the values of the Republic and open to the political debate. But on the other hand, in the background, it's working in order to polarize the nation on communal lines, stirring up the grivances of many parts of the hindu community, using other religious community (especially muslims) as scapegoats.

The other shocking anti-muslim action orchestrated by the BJP is known as the 2002 Gujarat riots. It was triggered by the Godhra train burning, caused by an explosion which occurred soon after a trivial argument between a group of hindu boys and some muslim street vendors at the station platform. Even as the investigations has proved that the explosion was not malicious but accidental and not related to the argument, some RSS members started to spread the rumour that the explosion, in which 58 people lost their lives, was the outcome of an attack carried out by muslims against hindus. The effect of this false rumour was a wide and sudden burst of communal violence against muslims, which lasted for weeks and extended to all north-west India, claiming thousands of lives. At the time the Chief Minister of Gujarat was Narendra Modi, a BJP politician raised in the ranks of RSS, who has been accused of connivance in the event. 

It's curious that Mr. Modi is now the ufficial candidate for premiership at next 2014 indian general election representing the right-wing coalition, the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) led by the BJP. Contrary to his recent political history, now he has been presented by his party as the pure and polite face of hindu right against the Congress, portrayed as corrupt and scandal-hit.