TUE JAN 25, 2022 7:30 PM ASCENSION / WRITING WITH FIRE Free Aero Theatre | Pre-recorded introduction by ASCENSION filmmaker Jessica Kingdon, moderated by John Wilson. Pre-recorded introduction by WRITING WITH FIRE filmmakers Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh. This is a vaccinated-only screening Tickets are no longer on sale for this event. Your RSVP is being held for 1 minute, please select the quantity and fill out your contact info to complete the RSVP First Name Last Name Email Quantity Subscribe to our newsletter FINISH
ABOUT THE FILMS ASCENSION, 2021, MTV Documentary Films, 97 min. Dir. Jessica Kingdon. ASCENSION is an impressionistic portrait of China’s industrial supply chain that reveals the country’s growing class divide through staggering observations of labor, consumerism and wealth. The documentary portrays capitalism in China across the levels of its operation, from the crudest mine to the most rarefied forms of leisure. Accordingly, the film is structured in three parts, ascending through the levels of the capitalist structure: workers running factory production, the middle class training for and selling to aspirational consumers, and the elites reveling in a new level of hedonistic enjoyment. In traveling up the rungs of China’s social ladder, we see how each level supports and makes possible the next while recognizing the contemporary “Chinese Dream” remains an elusive fantasy for most. FORMAT: DCP WRITING WITH FIRE, 2021, Music Box Films, 98 min. Dir. Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh. Reporting from a social environment built to divide based on caste and gender, a fearless group of journalists maintain India’s only women-led news outlet. The women of Khabar Lahariya (‘Waves of News’), all from the Dalit (“untouchables”) caste, prepare to transition the newspaper from print to digital even though many of their reporters don’t have access to electricity at home. Armed with smartphones, Chief Reporter Meera and her team of investigative journalists confront some of India’s biggest issues – exposing the relentless discrimination against women and amplifying the voices of those who suffer from the oppressive caste system. WRITING WITH FIRE chronicles the astonishing determination of these local reporters as they empower each other and hold those responsible for injustice to account. Reaching new audiences through their growing platform, the women of Khabar Lahariya redefine what it means to be powerful in this timely and inspiring documentary. FORMAT: DCP