Films

The premiere of the 12-minute animation film Sri Aurobindo: A Call to New India, dedicated to sharing Sri Aurobindo’s transformative vision with young people across the world, took place at Cinema Paradiso on 15 August.

Among other events happening during the Auroville birthday week there was a Bansuri flute recital offered by Aurovilian Chandra in the Matrimandir amphitheatre on Mother’s birthday, 21 February.

Danielle de Diesbach, a friend of Auroville who for more than 20 years has been coming to Auroville for six months a year, left her body on the night of August 18th in her home in the south of France.

Long-term Aurovilian Goupi (Jean-Pierre Bunel) peacefully passed away at Marika’s Home in the evening of Monday, June 24th. He had just turned 82 years old.

As befits chroniclers of our real lives, the organisers of the 8thAuroville Film Festival acknowledged in their address on the essence of the festival, the unique times Auroville is experiencing: ‘In the midst of the challenges we currently face, the Auroville Film Festival 2024 stands not as a conventional celebration but as a contemplative and reflective gathering.

“We do not belong to the past dawns, but to the noons of the future.” At 09.30 am on Sri Aurobindo’s 151st birthday, Manoj Pavithran premiered ‘Sri Aurobindo: A new Dawn’ in Bharat Nivas.

A two hour twenty minutes documentary ‘Sri Aurobindo and The Earth’s Future’ will be released on YouTube on August 15, 2023 at 4:30 am Indian time, the hour Sri Aurobindo was born in 1872.

Death is a topical theme in Auroville this year, reflected in the numbers of those who have left their bodies in recent months. Mauna, who has for years compiled our community’s obituaries, has pointed out that half way through 2023, we have already recorded as many deaths (16) as were recorded in each of the two preceding years (17 Aurovilian deaths in 2022 and 15 deaths in 2021).

The Handle Climate Change Film Festival 2020 in Shenzhen, China, awarded Aurovilian Christoph Pohl the Gold Award for his film Ever Slow Green, about Auroville’s forests.

Auroville’s development has been intrinsically entwined with the complexities of local cashew cultivation over the decades, so Aurovilian filmmaker Serena Aurora decided to get to the bottom of the story.

From September 30th to October 7th, a course on Film Appreciation – History and Aesthetics was conducted by the Film and Television Institute of India at Auroville’s Cinema Paradiso.

On 10th August, in Cinema Paradiso there was the premiere of a documentary, The Saints of Pondicherry, on an old people’s home for the destitute and homeless in Pondicherry, which was founded by Aurovilian Albert Zwaan who passed away some years ago.

The Journey of Auroville is a project under the special grants from the Government of India for Auroville’s 50th anniversary. Officially started with the Auroville Expo in Delhi, which took place in November 2017 and comprised an exhibition and two conferences at the Indira Gandhi Centre for the Arts and the UNESCO Office, this 50th anniversary commemorative project has evolved into a festival format to reflect the many facets of Auroville’s vision and realities over the past fifty years.

Ever since UNESCO declared 21st June as International Yoga Day, momentum on yogasana keeps gathering. With a much needed fillip coming from the government of India, Auroville took the initiative last year to introduce ten simple yoga asanas for daily practice for children and adults in the region.

Dev Mohanty describes the trials and satisfactions of live streaming Auroville’s 50th events.

In October, there was a film festival in Cinema Paradiso and dialogue sessions on the theme of ‘Restoring Connection’ as related to the restorative justice movement.

At the request of Outreach Media, a new 15 minute introductory video has been made on Auroville by a visiting film maker, Serena Aurora. The video, based on Mother’s Dream, can be watched on-line at Serena’s site , click on ‘A Dream Down to Earth’.

On August 28th, the one hour film The Matrimandir: Honouring Piero Cinconeci (Part 1) was shown in Cinema Paradiso. The film is about Piero’s work for the Matrimandir which, say the film makers, would never have been built without his quiet and unceasing efforts, day after day, for twenty five years.

Auroville’s Land Board has released a new film Landing Auroville. Created by Rakhal and the Auro-Image team, in cooperation with Auroville’s land fundraisers, this 8-minute film is a stirring call for completing Auroville’s body – its land.

The first part of a film The Matrimandir: Honouring Piero Cicionesi was shown at Cinema Paradiso on August 28th. The film, says its maker François Gautier, shows the true story of the Matrimandir, from the beginning till its completion, which, he writes, “would never have been built without Piero’s quiet and unceasing efforts, day after day, for twenty five years.

Sopanam Auroville has released its second DVD in the series Evolution Fast-forward. This 50-minutes DVD directed and scripted by Manoj Pavitran gives a brief introduction to Sri Aurobindo and The Mother and their ashram, and then deals with Sri Aurobindo’s concepts of evolution, cosmology, yoga-psychology, parts of the being and principles of transformational practice.

Francis and Doris are the Auroville Video Productions team which, for the past ten years, has been documenting the history and unfolding of Auroville.

Some months ago a new introductory film on Auroville, Auroville: The City the Earth Needs, was presented to the Aurovilians. The film, which begins with The Dream and ends with the Auroville Charter, gives a brief overview of the main projects and activities, including Auroville’s outreach activities in the nearby villages.

Auroville has recently been hit heavily by the Communication Wave. The less sensitive may not have felt it so clearly, but the Really Advanced Aurovilians immediately recognised the special nature of this new vibe, and reacted to it, albeit in different ways.