Perspective Film Series Presents:
Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022), Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Friday, March 24th @ 7:00pm
2022 | Hindi (India) | 152 mins
To what extent is your body your own? And in what circumstance does it know true liberty? When you imagine your own moments of liberation, what accompanies you? Is it pleasure? Peace? Control? Rights and affordances? As all people around the world are fighting for different rights and liberties, March’s perspective focuses on the stories of sex workers in Mumbai, where daughters, girlfriends, and wives can be sold to brothels. With specific interest in the story of Gangubai Kathiawadi, a 16-year-old woman sold by her husband into a brothel, to eventually become a mafia leader and political figure in women’s rights.
Our galleries are open 12-7PM for viewing prior to attending the event.
Friday, March 24, 2023
Doors: 7:00pm
Screening: 7:30pm
FREE with $10 admission to Contemporary Calgary. FREE for members.
Synopsis: Gangubai Kathiawadi (2020)
Based on S. Hussain Zaidi’s book “Mafia Queens of Mumbai”, young Ganga is tricked by her boyfriend with the promise of a film career and persuaded to leave the countryside for Mumbai. Once there, she is sold to a brothel in Kamathipura – India’s main red-light district in the 1950s – where her resistance is broken and she is coerced into servicing clients. But Ganga’s rebellious spirit endures. She may have no choice but to accept her circumstances but she can at least bend them in her favour. She becomes the feared Gangubai, champion of prostitutes who, allied with the neighbourhood Mafiosi boss, will be the first woman to raise her voice to advocate for the rights of sex workers’ and their children.
Director:Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Producer: Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Jayantilal Gada
Writer:Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Utkarshini Vashishtha, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Utkarshini Vashishtha, Prakash Kapadia
About the Curator:
Alia Aluma (she/her)
Alia Aluma is an award-winning artist, designer, and writer who works in various industries, including academia, philanthropy, and creative. She has lived, worked, and studied on four different continents, gaining notable experiences with the fashion and fine art networks of Hong Kong, as a muralist in Italy, a fashion photographer in England, and creative director, curator, and designer in Calgary, AB. With three degrees from top ranked global universities, Alia also devotes a great deal of time to education as a public speaker, guest instructor, or mentor in her fields of study: Art & History, Communications, Commerce, Film, and World Culture. Her global and enriching experiences have lent her toward a pursuit in philanthropy, starting the Aluma Foundation with her Father and twin brother, which is a scholarship foundation in Uganda for students at all levels. Among all of this, Alia also donates hundreds of hours to in-kind services annually.