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War and Peace
(Jang aur Aman)

Anand Patwardhan in Person September 20
Directed by Anand Patwardhan.
India, 2002, digital video, color, 148 min.
English, Hindi, Japanese with English subtitles.

Winner of the International Critics’ Prize at the Sydney Film Festival, where it was recognized “for its blending of crusading passion [and] intellectual rigor,” War and Peace presents a timely exploration of the India-Pakistan conflict in Kashmir and the volatile admixture of religion, patriotism, and nuclear armament that underpins it. Filmed over three tumultuous years in India, Pakistan, Japan, and the United States, this epic documentary is a journey that seeks out efforts for peace in the face of global militarism as it transforms the particulars of the conflict into a universal statement against violence and nationalism. Framing the film with the murder of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, Patwardhan injects a measure of sorrow into his study of the subcontinent’s trajectory toward unabashed militarism and nuclear testing. But it is a sorrow leavened with ample doses of black humor and moving testament to ordinary people who reject the politics of hatred.

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