In our blog last week, we discussed the political round up of the year 2016. This blog, as promised, will take us through a general cultural round-up of 2016.
India:
Films:
Ours is a country that’s in love with the movies. Any genre is welcome as long as it entertains us. But this is not limited just to films that we watch in the theatres. YouTube, too, now has become our go-to destination for good content.
Here are the best short films on YouTube for the year 2016, curated by scoopwhoop.com.
https://www.scoopwhoop.com/Best-Indian-Short-Films-On-YouTube-2016
Literature:
Mumbai-based writer Jerry Pinto, Tamil author Vannadhasan, Hindi writer Nasira Sharma along with 24 others will be awarded The Sahitya Akademi in February 2017. Among the winners are eight books of poetry, seven books of short stories, five novels, two on criticism, one of the essays and one play. The books were chosen on the basis of recommendations made by a jury of three in the languages concerned and approved by its executive board, the Akademi said in a statement.
To read more, please visit here.
Great Britain
Films
British Actors, directors and filmmakers made some great movies this year. Few of the best mainstream films to come from the region were The BFG, A Bigger Splash and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
For a definitive list, please visit here.
Literature:
- J K Rowling, famed author of the Harry Potter series, penned her first script which released earlier this year as ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ , both as a play and a film.
- The British Book Industry Awards celebrate the greatness of the British book trade and the people behind it – the best books, the best writers, the best bookshops, the best publishers – from industry greats to those starting out. 2016 saw some great names from the world of books and literature win this prize. To read more, click here – http://www.thebookseller.com/british-book-industry-awards/about
United States of America
Films:
Independent Cinema (Indie Films) is a feature film that is produced outside of the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment agencies.
Independent films are sometimes distinguishable by their content and style and the way in which the filmmakers’ personal artistic vision is realized. Usually, but not always, independent films are made with considerably lower budgets than major studio movies.
Indie films are a strong and heavily growing market in the USA. Here is a link to discovering some of the best Indie films of 2016 – http://www.refinery29.com/2016/11/130005/best-indie-movies#slide.
Literature:
The Pulitzer Prize recognizes excellence in journalism and the Arts each year. This year marks the 100th awarding of the Pulitzer Prizes. Notably, a play called Hamilton by Lin Manuel Miranda, which introduces the life of one the founding father of the country through music and rap broke all Broadway records and won the Pulitzer as well.
Here is a clip from Hamilton and an interview with its creator:
To see a list of all the Pulitzer Prize winners for 2016, click here – http://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-year/2016
Nobel Prizes for the year 2016
The Nobel Prize for this year had a surprise in store for us all. For the very first time, a songwriter was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”. This winner is none other than the great Bob Dylan.
To see a full list of winners for the year, please click here – https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/lists/year/index.html?year=2016&images=yes
To listen to Bob Dylan’s greatest hits, click here
To engage with a country’s culture – literature, music, art, films – is also an act of great citizenship. It is a means to understand each other and in fact a generation better.
All of us at Desh Apnayen ensure our programs for children make them both, politically and culturally aware. This year, make a pledge to know a part of your culture – current or ancient – better. Reach out to us with your ideas and questions, and we will be sure to share them! Just like always, we promise we will be here to listen and to engage.
Have a happy new year.
Jai Hind!