The 70th anniversary screenings will be preceded by a pre-recorded introduction by guest curator Anupma Shanker.
Based on the 1954 novel of the same name by the British army officer & novelist John Masters, and directed by the Oscar winning filmmaker George Cukor, Bhowani Junction is set in the final days of British Raj in India. Eva Gardner stars in her BAFTA-nominated performance as the half-caste army officer Victoria Jones, whose loyalties, self-identity and future are put to the test as she finds herself tugged in different directions by three suitors: the British Colonel Rodney Savage (Steward Granger), the Anglo-Indian rail officer Patrick Taylor (Bill Travers), and her Sikh co-worker Ranjit Kasel (Francis Matthews). As Mahatma Gandhi's "Quit India" movement galvanizes insurgent nationalists against colonial rule and Britain prepares to relinquish control of the subcontinent, Victoria stands at the crossroads torn between her two identities, and her life appears emblematic of the existential crisis faced by the Anglo-Indian community who must come to terms with the tragic loss of both worlds.
Anupma Shanker is a British-Indian film curator and archives researcher with a deep and evolving interest in marginalised and minority screen narratives from, of and about the past. Her curatorial practice is focused on bringing to light films and filmmakers that remain overlooked, inaccessible and undiscovered but can offer valuable insight, wisdom and guidance in contextualizing the difficult but urgent discourses about the myths and realities of shared/contested histories, heritage, identities and memories. Website
