New Delhi. Manoj Mathew; Festival Director, ‘12th Jeevika: Asia Livelihood Documentary Festival’ has expressed his disappointment for not getting exemption certificate to screen documentary “Caste on the Menu Card”. He said that Jeevika documentary festival is organized by renowned Delhi based think tank Centre for Civil Society (CCS) annually. The main motive behind organizing this festival is to understand livelihood through films and brings light policies and regulations that limit livelihood freedom for the poor.
This is the 12th edition of Jeevika film festival. We received 115 entries from 13 countries this year including US, Canada, Colombia, China, Iran, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. After short listing our Jury (which comprises members from Media, Film Makers and Non-government sector) selected 19 documentaries for the final screening.
Out of 19 documentaries one is “Caste on the Menu Card” which has been produced by 5 student filmmakers of Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS), Mumbai as part of their academic project, months much before the beef ban in Maharashtra. Jeevika has done everything we could to communicate that to the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting to reconsider, but unfortunately the request was still denied. It seems that they have opted to steer clear of the beef issue altogether, as the issue is creating conflict these days.
Manoj said that although we are disappointed being unable to screen “Caste on the Menu Card” at Jeevika, we are happy that we will be screening many other high-quality documentaries that address important topics that highlight the importance of livelihood freedom. These documentaries are based on livelihood issues and are from 13 countries across the globe. We invite media and others to come and attend the festival. We will have film makers and characters of the documentaries with us to interact with media and audience.
About Jeevika (www.jeevika.org)
Centre for Civil Society organizes the an annual Asia-wide documentary festival since 2003, to capture the livelihood challenges and success faced by the rural and urban poor. The festival brings to light policies and regulations that limit livelihood freedom of the poor. By encouraging documentary makers to find interest in livelihood issues and providing them a platform to share their experiences and creativity.
Jeevika: Asia Livelihood Documentary Festival hopes to strengthen the Freedom Struggle of the Poor and change the attitudes and minds of many towards inclusive and sustainable development and to advocate for liberalisations at the bottom of the pyramid.
About CCS (www.ccs.in)
Our work in education, livelihood, and policy training promotes choice and accountability across private and public sectors. To translate policy into practice, we engage with policy and opinion leaders through research, pilot projects and advocacy.
We are India’s leading liberal think tank, ranked 50th worldwide and 1st in India by the 2014 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report published by the Think Tanks and Civil Society Program at the University of Pennsylvania. The rankings were first initiated in 2006, and CCS has consistently featured among the highest ranked centres of excellence globally.
We campaigned for livelihood freedom for street entrepreneurs, resulting in the passage of Street Vendors (Regulation and Protection of Livelihood) Act in March 2014. Our School Choice Campaign popularised the instrument of school vouchers in education, increasing choice for parents and accountability of teachers and schools. We promote Terracotta approach to addressing environmental problems and New Public Management as a tool for good governance.
