Men Against Violence
and Abuse (MAVA) in collaboration with
the social work department at Don Bosco College, Panaji hostedthe second
edition of Samabhav, a travelling film festival film on 8, 9 January 2019 at
the Don Bosco Bi Centenary Hall. The films covered a wide range of gender
matters from various forms of gender based discrimination to challenging the
male gender stereotypes and dominant model of masculinity.
The screenings and
accompanying discussions saw enthusiasm amongst the mixed audience. The
festival was open to college students, film-makers and all those who were
interested in watching the films.
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The inaugural
function was graced by Harish Sadani, Festival Founder and Director, Fr.
Joaquim Lobo, Manager, Cedric Silveira, Principal and Chief guest- Ulrika
Sundberg, CounsulGeneral of Sweden, Mumbai. The dignitaries released the
festival catalogue.
Sundberg urged the
audienceto be open minded and accept all genders. After introducing the
festival concept, films like ‘Boys who like Girls’’Any other day’ ‘Eli Eli
Lama’, ‘Kharaki Kota’ ,’Juice’, ‘I am Bonnie’, ‘S Durga’ etc. were screened.
DiscussantsHarish
Sadani, MamtaKumari, Francis Fernandes, Milroy Goes, Sabina Martins, Christine,
Diana Dias, Nishtha Desai and Sundbergengaged the viewers in active discussion
on several topics such as patriarchy, struggle for identity, online harassment,
gender bias etc.
Samabhav
revolved around the idea of ending the urge to changepeople- be it men or
women, understanding gender and accepting everyone as they arewithout
practicing any sort of discrimination.
