ABOUT THE EVENT:

Kartik Nair's work delves into the world of 1980s Indian horror cinema, focusing on the iconic yet often overlooked films produced by the Ramsay Brothers and other filmmakers of the era. These movies brought to life soul-sucking witches, knife-wielding maniacs, and vampires cloaked in darkness, captivating audiences despite their sudden cuts, botched makeup effects, and continuity errors.

In “Seeing Things,” Nair explores how the "failures" of these films reveal deeper truths about the conditions under which they were made, censored, and viewed. Through extensive archival research and interviews, he uncovers the spectral materialities and haunting imagery that defined this unique genre of Indian cinema.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kartik Nair is Assistant Professor of Film and Media Arts at Temple University. He is currently at work on his first book, Seeing Things, which explores material infrastructures of film production, censorship, and circulation by examining their spectral traces in Indian horror films of the 1980s. He is a core editor of Bioscope: South Asian Screen Studies. His research interests include cinematic infrastructures, genre cinemas, and visual space in film. Before joining Temple University, he was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Cinema Studies at Purchase College in the State University of New York from 2016-2018.