SIKH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2009: DOCUMENTARY
Not Every Time...
Director/Producer: Daljit Ami

“Not Every Time …” is an account of a mass-movement in Indian Punjab. The movement was initiated after the rape and murder of college student in 1997 and still continues as the leaders of the movement are paying the price of raising a women’s issue in a patriarchal society.

The film explores different aspects of the issue; social, political, legal and cultural through a rural oral narrative. The movement invokes different identities – history, kinship, social, political and ideological on a serious gender issue.

Furthermore the participation of women in the movement and their approach to the space hitherto known as predominantly male space seems to be questioning the issue to be of “living being” rather than of the “victim.”

The film is a multilayered narrative that has many subtexts. The narrative of the film raises questions instead of providing answers. It is an attempt to document a struggle on the periphery, which could not become a subject for journalism and academics despite a long span of nine years and the regular participation of thousands of people.

Director's Bio:
Daljit Ami has an MA in Ancient Indian History Archaeology & Culture, and a Masters in Mass Communications. He has worked on several independent films and documentaries mainly dealing with social issues in northern India. In addition to filmmaking he is an Assistant Editor for the Punjabi Tribune, which is published in Chandigarh.

Daljit’s extensive documentary works include:

• “Jalandhar A City Of Sports Goods” for Indira Gandhi National Open University
• “Born In Debt” – a film on the agricultural labor in Punjab for International Labor Organization
• A documentary film on the life and works of human rights activist Mr. Sudarshan Kumar, “Sudarshan: An Institution Of Simplicity”
• “Zulm Aur Aman” – an anti-war film
• “‘Karsewa” – a film on the voluntary environmentalist movement in Punjab
• “Anhad Baja Bajey” – on the Sufi tradition and culture of debate in Punjab
• A documentary film “Unearthing-Unfamiliar” on the life and works of Punjabi Scholar, Prof. Pritam Singh
• “Not Every Time …”