Film Screening of film by Pallavi Paul and Sahej Rahal | The Common Task

22 March 2016, 5 pm | The FICA Reading Room, D-42, Defence Colony, New Delhi
Duration: 52 mins | Language: English

“What does it mean to leave? Or to prepare to leave? What does returning mean to those who only buy one-way tickets? Something to be deferred for as long as possible, like a promise bouncing amidst stars in the night sky of a distant galaxy. Until now an irreversible exit from the earth was only possible in death, inevitable for life. It is now an option. To stay is as much of an option as to leave. The search for humanity’s next bold frontier begins with a one-way ticket.”

The Common Task is an experimental HD video film on the Mars One project, which aims to set up the first human settlement in Mars. It is about the proposition of a one-way trip to mars, it explores the philosophical possibilities of interplanetary travel. Woven around the stories of two applicants who want to make this journey, this film includes scientific reports, plans, charts, and personal journals, interspersed with interviews with future astronauts. The film screening was attended by the filmmaker, Pallavi Paul and was followed by a question and answer round.

India Foundation for the Arts made a grant to Pallavi Paul and Sahej Rahal for the film. The video includes scientific reports, plans, charts, applications made for space travel, personal journals, interspersed with interviews with future astronauts. The artists also plan to create an exhibition and performance from the material created and gathered for the video. Pallavi Paul is a visual artist, filmmaker and scholar from Delhi. After her Masters in Mass Communication from Jamia Milia Islamia and MPhil in Arts and Aesthetics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, she is currently pursuing her PhD from the same department. Sahej Rahal completed his BFA from Rachana Sansad Academy of Fine Arts and Crafts, Mumbai. He works with sculpture, video and performance art.