dir. Saeed Akhtar Mirza, 1995, 84 min.

This award-winning Hindi film set in riot-stricken India follows a schoolgirl and her ailing grandfather leading up to the 1992 demolition of Ayodhya's Babri Masjid. A work of profound cinematic mourning, Naseem grasps a contemporary moment of crisis to reflect on the past, both of a family and a nation. To talk about the film’s continued relevance for the religio-political life in contemporary South Asia, we will be joined by a post-screening panel with Teren Sevea (Assistant Professor, South Asia Studies), Abdul Manan (PhD Candidate, Religious Studies), Koyna Tomar (PhD Student, History and Sociology of Science), and Vikrant Dadawala (PhD Candidate, English and Cinema Studies).

Introduction by Elliot Montpellier (PhD Student, Anthropology and South Asia Studies) and Megan Robb (Assistant Professor, Religious Studies). 

In Relation film series presented by the Wolf Humanities Center and Penn's Cinema & Media Studies Program. Cosponsored by Penn's Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts and Scribe Video Center. Curated by Rahul Mukherjee, Dick Wolf Assistant Professor of Television and New Media Studies, Assistant Professor of English, University of Pennsylvania.