"Edith Martin's 1953 documentary is especially timely viewing given the phenomenal success of Richard Attenborough's Gandhi at the box office and with the movie award givers. The close parallels between the documentary and the feature film in the structuring of the historical events and the relationships between the characters is so striking as to suggest that Attenborough was not only familiar but greatly influenced by Mahatma Gandhi: Twentieth Century Prophet, though rather surprisingly the latter has more of a religious tenor. For the viewer seeing the two works in conjunction provides a sort of pleasurable schizophrenia as one watches Gandhi's life and modern Indian history unfold both in the 'real world' as captured on film and in an epic recreation; as rendered by the documentary form on the one hand and the fictional form on the other. "Recognizing the current interest in informed information on Gandhi, the man and the film, the University's Center for South and Southeast Asia Studies has organized a colloquium to follow the documentary that will allow ample time for questions from the audience and general discussion. The panelists will include Professor Pranab Bardhan of the Department of Economics, a leading authority on Indian economic development; Dr. Satti Khanna of the Center and film program, a specialist on Indian cinema who will be offering a course on Satyajit Ray next quarter; Professor Thomas Metcalf of the History Department, whose research has focused on Indian and Commonwealth history; Professor Michael Nagler of Classics, whose particular interest has been Gandhi's spiritual message and his development of the doctrine of non-violence; and David Mandelbaum, Professor Emeritus in Anthropology." --Jerry Bass, Center for South and Southeast Asia Studies.