to get us talking

Photographs: Vasant Nath

PROJECTION

A man assembles the fragments of his thoughts and the landscape around him into a mandala of broken bricks. The film follows his journey of creation.

5 mins approx | DV |  sepia | 2005

dir. Saumyanada Sahi

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CITIZEN | NAGARIK

What do we do when we see a person suffering – do we stop, or carry on in the hope that someone else will do the needful? Where do we place the boundary between responsibilityand self-interest?

‘Citizen’ is an attempt to reflect on this difficulty of experience. It is a story made of many stories in which the protagonist, Professor Barua, struggles with his moral discomfort as he walks home late one winter night.

Guilt once felt seems to haunt even its denial. Do we turn to face it, or do we carry on in the hope of forgetting?

10 mins approx | HDV | colour and b/w | 2009

dir. Saumyananda Sahi

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WARLI PAINTING

past | present | future

What changes when a tribal art form, once performed as a ritual part of life, becomes something to be bought and sold? What are the reasons for this shift, and what in turn are the effects – both on the painters themselves as well as on their art?

‘Warli Painting’ tries to address the above questions by mapping a chronicle of inter-woven memories as well as external pressures. Crucial here are of course the views of the Warli painters themselves, but also the views of those outside persons who ‘discovered’ Warlipainting and brought it to the gaze – and use – of a detached urban audience. For indeed, the past, present and future of Warli painting was permanently altered by this one innocent act.

Individuals as well as movements make history, and looking back is in a way also a preparation for looking forward. It is the intention of this film to open windows by pointing, not to close them by making conclusions. Warli painting as an art is not lost – it just needs to be found.

28 mins approx | HD | colour | 2011

dir. Tanushree

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NOCTURNE

The preparation to sleep is also a preparation to dream. As the sun sets our pupils dilate – and we begin to see the same things differently.

‘Nocturne’ is a play of light and shadow, of textures and movement as it tries to find musicality in the image. It is a short composition exploring impressions of night, seen and unseen.

4 mins approx | HD | color and b/w | 2011

dir. Saumyananda Sahi

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ELEGY

After separation comes absence. Spaces once inhabited are suddenly found empty, rituals that used to be done together are now done alone. Only memories linger like smells, becoming presences felt but refusing to be seen or touched.

‘Elegy’ is a poem of loss and transcendence. Using only static images and sound, it tries to evoke a sense of urban loneliness. The narrative is a reconciliation of scars.

4 mins approx | HD | color and b/w | 2011

dir. Saumyananda Sahi

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