Filmbar and RPC's screening of "I Am Cuba" at the Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Saturday, September 20, 2025 at 6:00 pm

Filmbar and RPC's screening of "I Am Cuba" at the Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Saturday, September 20, 2025 at 6:00 pm.

This study of Cuba – partially written by renowned poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko – captures the island just before it made the transition to a post-revolutionary society. Moving from city to countryside and back again, "I Am Cuba" examines the various problems caused by political oppression as well as by great discrepancies in wealth and power. Beginning in Havana in the pre-Castro era, we see how foreigners contributed to the city's prostitution and poverty; this sequence features dreamy, hallucinogenic camera work that creates a feeling of unease and dislocation. Then, in glorious images of palm trees and fertile land, the film looks at the sugarcane fields in the countryside, and the difficulties faced by peasants working the land. Finally, back in the city again, leftist students battle the police and a corrupt government – and pay a high price for their rebellion.

An informal discussion and tea will follow the screening.

Address: Research and Publication Centre (RPC), 2nd Floor, 65 Main Boulevard Gulberg, Lahore (next to Standard Chartered Bank, above Indesign showroom).

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)

 

Filmbar and RPC screening of Ingmar Bergman's "Autumn Sonata" (1978) at the Research and Publication Centre (RPC)

Filmbar and RPC's screening of Ingmar Bergman's "Autumn Sonata" (1978) at the Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Saturday, September 7, 2025 at 6:00 pm.

Leonardo, the long time partner of Charlotte, a world renowned concert pianist, has just passed away. Because of Leonardo's passing, Charlotte's daughter, Eva, formerly a journalist, has invited her mother for an extended stay at the country home where she lives with her minister husband Viktor. Despite not having seen Eva in seven years as Charlotte is absorbed solely in her own life, Charlotte agrees. Upon arrival at the parsonage, Charlotte learns that her other daughter, Helena, is now living there with Eva as well. Helena, who is mentally disabled, used to be institutionalized until Eva decided to look after her herself starting two years ago. In some respects, Eva taking care of Helena replaces taking care of her son Erik, who accidentally drowned when he was four. Eva takes solace in believing that Erik is still a major part of her life despite his death. Charlotte also has not seen Helena in quite some time, and Eva surmises that if Charlotte knew that Helena was there, she probably would not have come. Despite telling Eva otherwise, Charlotte in private does mention her displeasure at seeing Helena there. As Eva spends more time with her mother, who she believes is a calculating woman whose actions always have a meaning behind them, her feelings from childhood re-emerge, of which she tells her mother and which she knows have shaped the unhappy person she is today. That unhappiness also has affected the way she views her marriage. Charlotte, in turn, explains the reasons for the way that she is in life.

Address: Research and Publication Centre (RPC), 2nd Floor, 65 Main Boulevard Gulberg, Lahore (next to Standard Chartered Bank, above Indesign showroom).

The screening will be followed by an informal discussion and then tea. Lift is functional.

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)

The September 2025 issue of Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) is out

The September 2025 issue of Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) is out. Link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com

Contents:

1. Ray Nunes: From Marx to Mao – And After.

2. Thomas I Palley: A History: How the US exploited fractures in the post-Soviet Order.

3. Reading Karl Marx illegal.

4. Mahmood Mamdani: Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: A Political Perspective on Culture and Terrorism – II: The Cold War after Indochina.

5. Kriti M Shah: The Baloch and Pashtun national movements in Pakistan: Colonial Legacy – III: The Conflagration of Pakistan’s Northwestern border.

6. Navid Shahzad: Pakistan Here and Now: The Language of the Heart – II: Exile, yearning and loss.

7. S Zulfiqar Gilani: Authoritarian-Dark Triad Personality and Politics in Pakistan.

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook).

Cells: +92 302 8482737 & +92 333 4216335

Email: rashed.rahman1@gmail.com