Discrimination against Women in the Religious Sphere

Open Space
in collaboration with Saajhi Duniya
organised a session on
"Discrimination Against Women in the Religious Sphere"
and screened Yael Katzir's documentary-film
Praying In Her Own Voice
(60 minutes)
on
Thursday, 18th February, 2010
at the Saajhi Duniya Office, Lucknow

Session on the Growing Racial, Ethnic and Nationalistic Intolerance

Katherine Kressman Taylor (1903-1996)

Open Space held a session on the growing racial, ethnic and nationalistic intolerance on Wednesday, 3rd February at the Academy of Mass Communication, during which Katherine Kressman Taylor's story Address Unknown (1938) was read out. The reading was followed by a discussion around it and on the theme of the session.

When it first appeared in Story magazine in 1938, Address Unknown became an immediate social phenomenon and literary sensation. Published in book form a year later and banned in Nazi Germany, it garnered high praise in the United States and much of Europe.

A series of fictional letters between a Jewish art dealer living in San Francisco and his former business partner, who has returned to Germany, Address Unknown is a haunting tale of enormous power and enduring impact.

As Published Weekly rightly reviewed, "Address Unknown serves not only as a reminder of Nazi horrors but as a cautionary tale in light of current racial, ethnic, and nationalistic intolerance."

The story's review that appeared in Time on 30th September, 2002 can be read over here.

Screening of BEING OSAMA on International Migrants Day

Open Space
screened the documentary
Being Osama
on
International Migrants Day

Friday, 18th December, 2009
at
Open Space - Lucknow Office


It was on 18th December in 1774 when Jews were expelled from Prague, Bohemia, and Moravia.

Jointly made by a Jew and a Muslim and recipient of a number of international awards, Being Osama details the lives of six Montreal men, all with the first name Osama, in the wake of 9/11.

A Week of Stories from Nazi Concentration Camps

Tadeusz Borowski (1922-1951)

Yogendra Krishna

Open Space
organised
"A Week of Stories from Nazi Concentration Camps"
from 7th to 12th December, 2009
at
Open Space - Lucknow Office,
during which
Yogendra Krishna's Hindi translations of
Tadeusz Borowski's Polish stories
from his collection
This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen
(गैस चेंबर के लिए कृप्या इस तरफ़)
were read out.

Indo-Israel Relations

Open Space
organised
a lecture
by
Ms. Sharon Rappaport,
Second Secretary - Political Affairs,
Embassy of Israel, New Delhi
on
Indo-Israel Relations
on
Wednesday, 2nd December, 2009
at the
Department of Ancient Indian History & Archaeology,
University of Lucknow

Remembering Gujarat 2002

Photo: Arko Datta, Reuters

Robin David

Open Space
presents
"Remembering Gujarat 2002"
Reading of excerpts from the Indian Jewish writer and journalist Robin David's account of the anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat in 2002, City of Fear,
and the
Screening of Nooh Nizami & Akanksha Joshi directed documentary-film Passengers: A Video Journey in Gujarat

Sunday, 1st November, 2009
at
Open Space - Lucknow Office


The event also commemorated the publication of the first Hebrew daily newspaper, Hadoar, which began publication on 1st November, 1921.

An Assistant Editor with the Times of India and a member of the tiny Bene Israel Jewish community, Robin David's memoir of the anti-Muslim pogrom in the western Indian state of Gujarat in 2002 is City of Fear, Penguin, 2007, shortlisted in the top five of the Vodafone Crossword Book Awards in the Non-Fiction Category.

Passengers: A Video Journey in Gujarat (52 minutes): The genocide in Gujarat is documented through the lives of a Hindu and a Muslim family. Filmed over a year and a half, it follows the echoes of violence, intense pain and betrayal. The politics of division is experienced through the two families that form the micro unit of the Indian society.

A Retrospective of the Israeli Filmmaker Yael Katzir's films and Workshops by her

Professor Yael Katzir being felicitated by Professor B. Hanumaiah, Vice Chancellor, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow

Professor Yael Katzir speaking at the Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow

Professor Yael Katzir

A view of the audience at the Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow

Professor Yael Katzir

Professor Govind Ji Pandey of the Department of Journalism & Mass Communication introducing Professor Yael Katzir

The Vice Chancellor of the Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, Professor B. Hanumaiah speaking at the workshop

Professor Yael Katzir at the University of Lucknow

The audience at the University of Lucknow

Professor Yael Katzir

Professor R. C. Tripathi, Head, Department of Journalism & Mass Communication, University of Lucknow, speaking at the workshop

Professor Yael Katzir at the City Montessori School, Lucknow

Dr. Navras Jaat Aafreedi, the organiser of the workshop and film retrospective and Professor Yael Katzir

Professor Yael Katzir at the City Montessori School, Lucknow

Dr. Jagdish Gandhi, founder and manager of the City Montessori School (left) speaking to Ms. Ruth Amit, Consul of Paraguay for Israel (centre) and Professor Yael Katzir (right)

Bagpipers giving welcome salute to Professor Yael Katzir at the City Montessori School, Lucknow

Professor Yael Katzir

Open Space
organised
A Retrospective of the Israeli Filmmaker Yael Katzir's films and Workshops by her
on

Monday, 9th November, 2009, 
in memory of the victims of Kristallnacht (1938),
at the
Department of Mass Communication & Journalism,
Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow

and

Wednesday, 11th November, 2009
in commemoration of the cease-fire agreement signed between Israel and Egypt on 11th November, 1973, 
at the
Department of Mass Communication & Journalism,
University of Lucknow, Lucknow

City Montessori School, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow

Professor Yael Katzir's films (please click on the title to read about the film):

• Company Jasmine
• Shivah for my mother
• Praying in Her Own Voice
• Out for Love, Be Back Shortly
• Marie Balian: An Armenian Artist in Jerusalem