Events of the week

Reminiscing early years

What: Growing up in a conservative home in the French countryside, Maite Delteil has always claimed herself to be a ‘nature’s child’. Throughout her practice, nature, flora and fauna has been an intrinsic part of her visual vocabulary. Art Alive Gallery presents ‘Pages from my diary’ – in this collection Maite captures the intimacies of her thoughts and domestic existence. At a glance, these artworks appear to be simple displays of still life and portraits but on engaging further, we enter Maite’s colourful world that is classified by a distinct poetic warmth. While the still life paintings capture moments from her childhood and the simplicities of her home, the self-portraits exhibit a sense of intimacy with the feminine energy.

When: 5 August – 15 September

Where: Art Alive Gallery

Masterpiece

What: Is Leni Riefenstahl’s “Olympia” a Nazi propaganda – or the greatest film about sport ever made? IIC is screening this two-part documentary over the next two weeks. This documentary has been acclaimed as a masterpiece that revolutionised the way sport was depicted on screen.  This epic record of the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games attempts to combine sporting reportage with a celebration of physical beauty and the spectacle involved in this uniquely unifying event. And what cinema historians still debate today is whether Riefenstahl was defying Goebbels and Hitler all those summers ago, or whether she was doing exactly what they wanted. Recipient of the Kinema Junpo Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Kinema Junpo Awards 1941. Part One begins with a history of the Olympic games – with a mystical glide through the smoke-wreathed ruins and statues of ancient Greece depicting the traditions of the ancient games in the city of Olympia.

When: Till August 15

Where: Website of India International Centre

Looking back

What: In the late 1980s, Mrinal Sen made a series of 12 short films for Indian TV, called “Kabhi Door Kabhi Paas”. 34 years after its telecast, his son, Kunal Sen shares a copy of the long-lost shorts. India Habitat Centre brings to you one short from the series every week. This week presents ‘Das Saal Baad’ (After a Decade) starring Aparna Sen and Girish Karnad. This 24 minute short film in Hindi was written by Achintya K Sengupta.

Where: Website of India Habitat Centre