India Cabaret (Nair, 1985): ICA Cinema, 6.30pm
This film is a ‘Machine That Kills Bad People’ Film Club presentation.
ICA introduction to tonight’s screening:
Two films about stripping and striptease. Focusing on dancers from a Mumbai cabaret, this early documentary feature from Mira Nair attends to the tensions between the women’s daytime existence and their nighttime activities. India Cabaret is, in Nair's words, “about the unshakeable inviolability of double standards, of patriarchal values, of the strong conditioning of women never to question or challenge." A portrait of stripper Ellion Ness in shimmering black and white, Gunvor Nelson’s short Take Off takes off in several senses of the word. After removing her clothes, Nelson’s protagonist undoes her body parts as well before the film ends on an intergalactic note. Nelson’s camera encircles Ness with irony, humour and razor sharp critique.
Programme
India Cabaret, dir. Mira Nair, India 1985, 60 min.
Take Off, dir. Gunvor Nelson, USA 1972, 10 min.
This screening is accompanied by a newly commissioned essay by Devika Girish.
Here (and above) is an extract.
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