Grassroots Artist Project: VISITING ARTIST SERIES: Arpita Kumar
Hi Friends!
Our third and final GAP supported visiting artist, Arpita Kumar, will be here the last weekend in January to show her films, talk about her work, and teach a workshop on her practice! We couldn’t be more excited!
Arpita Kumar grew up in India and works as a filmmaker and professor in California. She has worked internationally on films in Cuba, the U.K., Peru, Bolivia, India, and the U.S. Her award – winning films have screened internationally at numerous film festivals and venues including the Mill Valley Film Festival, PBS online film festival, Atlanta International Film Festival, Sarasota Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, amongst others. Arpita is one of the three winning writers to work on the New Normal anthology series with Project Greenlight Digital Studios, Color Creative TV, Issa Rae, and Adaptive Studios. She was also selected for Film Independent’s Project:Involve fellowship. As a part of the fellowship, Arpita wrote and directed a short narrative film, My Dear Americans. The film won the PBS People’s Choice Award. Arpita was also selected for the Reykjavik Transatlantic Talent Lab during the Reykjavik Film Festival and was nominated for the Gold Egg Award at the festival. She has a MFA in Film/Video from California Institute of the Arts, an MA in Comparative Literature from The University of Iowa and a BA in Film/Literature from Hampshire College. Arpita’s achievements and films have been covered by innumerable prestigious media outlets including NPR, Huffington Post, PBS, Black Public Media, Indiewire,BuzzFeed, USA today,India Today, the Indian Express, the Hindu, and DNA India. Arpita worked under Kirby Dick on the Oscar nominated and Sundance Audience Award winning documentary, The Invisible War, which exposed the epidemic of rape in the U.S. military.
“I am drawn to the complex relationships that construct the identity of Americans. The works attempt to delight through constructed narratives, but at the core, is the exposition of loneliness and isolation.” – Arpita Kumar
Women Between Worlds: The Films of Arpita Kumar
Saturday, March 4th, 7pm
North Asheville Public Library
1030 Merrimon Ave
Join us in celebrating the powerful stories of women pushing boundaries and living between worlds in the stunning short films of visiting artist, Arpita Kumar.
Arpita will be here IN PERSON for an artist talk & q&a at the screening!
Women Between Worlds: The Films of Arpita Kumar
Sita unfolds piecemeal onto a day when an Indian maid- servant’s commercial surrogacy goes astray. The story culminates in tragic irony when the body of a young girl and of Sita becomes sites for opposing narratives on female reproduction. With everything at stake, Sita makes a choice that is both disruptive and dignified.
My Dear Americans is about a Sikh woman’s defiant spirit. A recent immigrant to the U.S, Tejpreet is reluctant to embrace her new American identity. In contrast, her husband celebrates everything that mildly reeks of America. On America’s most patriotic holiday, the fourth of July, they have a threatening racist encounter that crushes the Sikh man’s enthusiastic spirit. Witnessing her husband’s devastation, Tejpreet makes a choice against hate and turns the situation around, if only momentarily.
Secret Screening of a brand new film!!!
Tell us you’re coming on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1865644993704473/
Hamartia: Writing Character & Story for Short Films
Sunday, March 5th, 1-3pm
Mechanical Eye Microcinema
207 Coxe Ave
Join visiting filmmaker, Arpita Kumar, in a short form screenwriting workshop!
Unpacking hamartia, the tragic flaw, students will work directly with award-winning, internationally recognized independent filmmaker and screenwriter, Arpita Kumar, to develop their own screenplay. Students will leave the 2-hour workshop with an outline for a three act short film.
No prior screenwriting experience necessary!
Cost: $30
Open to teens & adults!
Register Here: https://goo.gl/forms/mLsMYIId8UI1GXeh1
Mechanical Eye Microcinema 