I do not remember the time or the place. It might have been Bangalore, Kolkata, Shillong, Chennai, Mussoorie, or Berlin. It might have been at a park, a mall, a wedding, a hospital, or even at a bar. Despite the many possibilities, there was always a time when certain places would generate an awkward reaction
Author: Fileona Dkhar
Berlinale Review: Lee Don Ku’s Kashiggot
At this year’s Berlinale, South Korean director Lee Don-Ku debuted Kashiggot, a film which explores the commission, atonement and punishment of sin. In the Asian market, prolific filmmakers traditionally prefer to remain within the often painfully saccharine genre of the “Asian blockbuster.” This presents a stark contrast to Asian art-house cinema, which aims at commenting
Matsukaze: An Evocative Merger of Theatrical Traditions
In blending together the traditions of Japanese Noh Theatre with the venerable institution of Western opera, the Staatsoper’s showing of Matsukaze provides for a hauntingly pleasurable experience. Translated from Sino-Japanese as ‘skill’, Noh theatre represents a conflation of the Japanese musical theatre tradition (dating back to the 14th century) and its 16th European counterpart. Taken
Berlin’s Other Film Festival
For the cinephile living in Berlin, February means attending as many Berlinale screenings as possible. The still-intact Friedrichstrasse Christmas decorations add a sense of cheer to the festival, and with the arrival of movie stars – be it yesteryear’s goddess Catherine Deneuve or sex-appeal induced James Franco – comes the hope of a glimpse of
An Die Bärliner’s Journal: Italy on the Bare Minimal
By approximately the fourth week into my first semester of ECLA’s Academy Year Program, I had decided that the coming seasons should constitute a “European experience” for me. Though in hindsight I only vaguely knew what that meant, I still vainly pronounced my “European Year,” at the very least aiming for it to be upheld
The Käthe Kollwitz Museum
On December 7, the students in the Berlin: Experiment in Modernity course visited the Käthe Kollwitz Museum as part of their then on-going class discussion about social democracy, through the lens of Europe’s workers’ movement in the 19th and 20th century. Situated in Berlin’s elegant Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf neighborhood, the museum is actually a modified 19th century