You are Offline: A Presentation by Sandhya Kumar | Project Showcase@IFA | July 26, 2022

India Foundation for the Arts (IFA)
invites you to
You are Offline
A presentation by Sandhya Kumar

Tuesday, July 26, 2022 | 06:30 PM – 07:30 PM IST | Zoom and Facebook Live

How do internet shutdowns impact digital citizenship in a country where many government services are available primarily via the Internet? What impact does a six-month digital embargo have on the apple trade in Kashmir? What digital rights would each of us be willing to give up in public interest?

Join us for a presentation by Sandhya Kumar about her project You are Offline - a film in three parts that asks questions on the political, economic, personal and emotional dimensions of internet shutdowns. Made as part of the special initiative 25x25 by IFA, which marked the 25 years of grantmaking at IFA and 25 years of Internet in India, the project looks at the concept of ‘internet shutdowns’ as a form of ‘digital apartheid’ where within the same country, some citizens are systematically and structurally denied the means to participate in a highly networked and digitised world. Sandhya will talk about her inspiration behind this project and question how accessibility to the Internet is a lifeline which we cannot imagine being without, yet its pervasive nature lends itself to also being used as an instrument of control. 

Sandhya Kumar is a Bangalore-based filmmaker whose films are rooted in non-fiction and inspired by the desire to make visible the poetry of everyday life.

Sandhya received a grant from IFA under the 25x25 special initiative in 2020-21, supported by lead donor Kshirsagar-Apte Foundation, and philanthropy partners Titan Company Limited, and Priya Paul and Sethu Vaidyanathan. 

This session is organised as part of the Project Showcase @ IFA, a series of online presentations to showcase, discuss, and engage audiences with the diverse projects we support across programmes.

Click here to register for the discussion on Zoom.

The discussion will also be streamed live on our Facebook page, for which no prior registration is required.