A Rifle and a Bag

Somi and her husband are striving to forge a new identity after fighting alongside the Naxalites, a communist guerrilla group that has been waging war on the Indian State since the 60s. After a decade of armed struggle for the rights of their tribal communities, the couple deserted the movement and surrendered to the police. Ever since, they have been trying to educate their son and reconcile their violent past with the desire to integrate into the Indian society.

The film discussion will take place on YouTube on Monday, October 11 16:00-18:00 CET/19:30-21:30 IST. The film is available for viewing from 2.00 PM CET on Friday, 8th October until 2.00 PM CET on Friday 15th October.

The video link is visible at the end of this email.


	CRISTINA HANES is a Romanian film director and producer. She co-founded NoCut Film Collective in 2016. Her debut feature length documentary film ‘A Rifle and a Bag’ (2020, 89 mins, India, Romania, Italy, Qatar) won the Special Mention of the Jury at 2020 International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) in the Bright Future Competition where it world premiered. Cristina’s short documentary film ‘António e Catarina’ (2017, 40 mins, Portugal) won the Pardino D’oro Award for Best International Short in Pardi di Domani at 2017 Locarno Festival and was screened in over 25 film festivals around the world. She is an alumna of DocNomads MA and Aristoteles Workshop. She completed her BA in the field of Cinematography in 2013 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

CRISTINA HANES is a Romanian film director and producer. She co-founded NoCut Film Collective in 2016. Her debut feature length documentary film ‘A Rifle and a Bag’ (2020, 89 mins, India, Romania, Italy, Qatar) won the Special Mention of the Jury at 2020 International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) in the Bright Future Competition where it world premiered. Cristina’s short documentary film ‘António e Catarina’ (2017, 40 mins, Portugal) won the Pardino D’oro Award for Best International Short in Pardi di Domani at 2017 Locarno Festival and was screened in over 25 film festivals around the world. She is an alumna of DocNomads MA and Aristoteles Workshop. She completed her BA in the field of Cinematography in 2013 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.


	ARYA ROTHE is an independent filmmaker from Pune, India, and co-founder of NoCut Film Collective. Her debut feature length documentary film ‘A Rifle and a Bag’ (2020, 89 mins, India, Romania, Italy, Qatar) won the Special Mention of the Jury at 2020 International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) in the Bright Future Competition where it world premiered. Her short documentary film “Casa da Quina” (2015) had its World Premiere at DocLisboa and won the Special Mention Jury Award at the International Film Festival FILMADRID in Spain. Her graduation short film made in Hungary, 'Daughter's Mother' (2018) had its world premiere at 61st Dok Leipzig Film Festival. She graduated in 2016 from DocNomads Master Course. Before DocNomads, she studied at FAMU - National Film School of Czech Republic.

ARYA ROTHE is an independent filmmaker from Pune, India, and co-founder of NoCut Film Collective. Her debut feature length documentary film ‘A Rifle and a Bag’ (2020, 89 mins, India, Romania, Italy, Qatar) won the Special Mention of the Jury at 2020 International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) in the Bright Future Competition where it world premiered. Her short documentary film “Casa da Quina” (2015) had its World Premiere at DocLisboa and won the Special Mention Jury Award at the International Film Festival FILMADRID in Spain. Her graduation short film made in Hungary, 'Daughter's Mother' (2018) had its world premiere at 61st Dok Leipzig Film Festival. She graduated in 2016 from DocNomads Master Course. Before DocNomads, she studied at FAMU - National Film School of Czech Republic.


	ISABELLA RINALDI is an independent filmmaker from Rome, Italy and co-founder of NoCut Film Collective. Her debut feature length documentary film ‘A Rifle and a Bag’ (2020, 89 mins, India, Romania, Italy, Qatar) won the Special Mention of the Jury at 2020 International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) in the Bright Future Competition where it world premiered. She graduated the DocNomads Master Course after getting her Bachelor Degree in Film Studies at Sapienza University of Rome. She directed and produced several short films, screened in international festivals and a video installation for the MAO Museum of Ljubljana. She is currently directing one episode of the documentary series “Borderline” produced by Off World production based in Belgium.

ISABELLA RINALDI is an independent filmmaker from Rome, Italy and co-founder of NoCut Film Collective. Her debut feature length documentary film ‘A Rifle and a Bag’ (2020, 89 mins, India, Romania, Italy, Qatar) won the Special Mention of the Jury at 2020 International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) in the Bright Future Competition where it world premiered. She graduated the DocNomads Master Course after getting her Bachelor Degree in Film Studies at Sapienza University of Rome. She directed and produced several short films, screened in international festivals and a video installation for the MAO Museum of Ljubljana. She is currently directing one episode of the documentary series “Borderline” produced by Off World production based in Belgium.

Isabelle Rinaldi, Cristina Hanes and Arya Rothe will be in conversation with George Kunnath (LSE) and Subasri Krishnan (Filmmaker/Media Lab, IIHS).


	Dr. George Kunnath is Research Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Before joining the LSE, he held teaching and research positions at the University of Oxford and University of London. His research explores the relationality of poverty, conflict and development, focusing on the Maoist movement in India and the FARC in Colombia. Kunnath has published his research in Current Anthropology, Journal of Peasant Studies, Dialectical Anthropology, Identities, and Anthropology Now, among others. His book Rebels from the Mud Houses: Dalits and the Making of the Maoist Revolution in Bihar (Social Science Press, 2012; Routledge, 2017) discusses Dalit agency and the Maoist movement. Currently, he is leading an interdisciplinary research project on gender perspectives of the Colombian Peace Agreement of 2016.

Dr. George Kunnath is Research Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Before joining the LSE, he held teaching and research positions at the University of Oxford and University of London. His research explores the relationality of poverty, conflict and development, focusing on the Maoist movement in India and the FARC in Colombia. Kunnath has published his research in Current Anthropology, Journal of Peasant Studies, Dialectical Anthropology, Identities, and Anthropology Now, among others. His book Rebels from the Mud Houses: Dalits and the Making of the Maoist Revolution in Bihar (Social Science Press, 2012; Routledge, 2017) discusses Dalit agency and the Maoist movement. Currently, he is leading an interdisciplinary research project on gender perspectives of the Colombian Peace Agreement of 2016.


	Subasri Krishnan is a filmmaker whose works deal with questions citizenship through the lens of memory, migration and an interrogation of identity documents. Her films include Brave New Medium on internet censorship in South-East Asia, This or That Particular Person about official identity documents and Aadhar, What the Fields Remember about the Nellie massacre in Assam in 1983, Sikhirni Mwsanai (Dance of the Butterfly) about a disappearing live performance music form in Chirang District, Assam. Her forthcoming film Shadow Lines and oral testimony project Facing History and Ourselves explores questions of citizenship, memory and migration in the state of Assam. She leads the Media Lab at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), an educational institution that works on urban practices, and is a part of the team that curates the Urban Lens film festival.

Subasri Krishnan is a filmmaker whose works deal with questions citizenship through the lens of memory, migration and an interrogation of identity documents. Her films include Brave New Medium on internet censorship in South-East Asia, This or That Particular Person about official identity documents and Aadhar, What the Fields Remember about the Nellie massacre in Assam in 1983, Sikhirni Mwsanai (Dance of the Butterfly) about a disappearing live performance music form in Chirang District, Assam. Her forthcoming film Shadow Lines and oral testimony project Facing History and Ourselves explores questions of citizenship, memory and migration in the state of Assam. She leads the Media Lab at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), an educational institution that works on urban practices, and is a part of the team that curates the Urban Lens film festival.