The first of the city's endless film fests, this one at Christ University, is the perfect way to begin it all hoping for solutions towards peace

It's been a while since Bangalore saw a decent film festival, but the annual season is finally here, and the first one to start off this period of pure cinema indulgence is this themed plethora at Christ University.

The institution has always been in the news for film festivals that often more than not represent society as it grows and evolves.

With changing times however, classics such as Bellitere the annual Kannada film festival, have disappeared, but newer ones have come to take their place.

Terrorism, wars, women issues that seem to see no hope of ever ending and victims of disasters ripped apart due to political and natural disasters.
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This is everyday life and the blunt reality for half the world's population and this year, Christ University decides to represent this unavoidable truth through hard-hitting portrayals as captured on film.

Fictional, semi-fictional, recreated and documented, these stories will act as perfect mediums for anyone who cares to view them and will be the perfect preparation for the upcoming conference on Peace and Conflict Resolution A Search through Dialogue, at the university.

"We wanted to connect films and psychology and the aim is to use these films like a text to understand human behaviour and psyche," said Baiju Gopal, coordinator of the festival. "These films show us what people face in their day to day lives, and sometimes reality perceived can be the biggest influence on a human beings mind," he adds.

Each film will be followed by a discussion moderated by faculty members from the university including stalwarts in the field like Anil Pinto, Anirban Sengupta and Siddarth Pillai.

The festival will be held simultaneously at three venues across the campus, which will be three rooms in the PU Block, specially chosen for the screenings. The schedule follows:

Dead man walking

Sister Helen visits Matthew Poncelet, a death row inmate for filing a brief. He denies his responsibility for the murder of a teenage couple. However, the story changes its course through the trial and he dies offering an apology to the victims' families.

At: Auditorium 1,Room 109, PU Block
9.15 11.45 am
Director: Tim Robbins
Duration: 122 minutes
Discussant: Sharon Lopez

Full Metal Jacket
This is a two-segmented story portraying the lives of young men training as Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. Through the experiences of Pyle, it shows the hardships, suffering and terror inflicted upon the community and the individuals involved.

At: Auditorium 2,
Room 108, PU Block
9.15 11.35 am
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Duration: 116 minutes
Discussant: Aravind
Radhakrishnan