Documentary Educational Resources - Filmmaker / Ray, Sandeep / All Films

Leaving Bakul Bagan

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 06:41:00 GMT

Leaving Bakul Bagan
Buy Now: $295.00

Three generations of the extended Roychowdury family have resided for decades at 160 Bakul Bagan Road, Calcutta. Every now and then one of its members has to leave the landscape of their childhood - a large sprawling house built around a courtyard and all the affection that dozens of relatives surround them with, to relocate for a job or to start a family elsewhere.

In Leaving Bakul Bagan, Saborna, a 19 year-old girl, prepares to leave for higher studies in the United States. The film is an intimate portrayal of her interactions with her family during her last few days at home. It is full of casual conversational humor and vignettes from typical familial interactions.

Incidental to the time and woven into the film are the effects of race riots throughout India in the aftermath of the destruction of a Mosque by Hindu fanatics. This incident precipitates an already brewing political debate about the ethics of leaving for America, especially on the eve of such a tragic political disaster. The very last scene, rendered in slow motion to heighten its sensibility, effectively creates a sense of deep loss and the feeling that the need for familial roots are indeed pan-ethnic and trans-cultural. Even though shot in cinema-verite style, Leaving Bakul Bagan has the grace and the flow of a dramatic narrative.

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

Best of Category, New England Film and Video Festival, 1994

Special Invitation, 40th Flaherty Film Seminar, 1994

RAI, University of Kent Festival of Ethnographic Films, 1994

Whitney Museum Tour, New York, Bombay, New Delhi, 1994

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The Sound of Old Rooms

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 07:47:00 GMT

The Sound of Old Rooms
Buy Now: $320.00

The Sound of Old Rooms, filmed over 20 years, traces the life of Sarthak, an Indian man who juggles his desire to be a poet with the practicalities of raising a family. As a college student he had time to drink with friends and discuss his writings; now with work commitments, he struggles to continue his dream. The crumbling home where he was raised and still lives with his nagging but affectionate mother, wife and young son is extremely cramped; he sleeps, as he has since a child, surrounded by books. Sarthak leads us through Kolkata's bars, apartments and alleyways as he tries to understand life and find meaning in his work.

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Trial in East Kalimantan

Mon, 27 Aug 2018 08:57:00 GMT

Trial in East Kalimantan
Buy Now: $320.00

This film, shot in Indonesia in 1999, gives us a rare insider's look at the beginnings of democracy during a period of political unrest and economic turmoil throughout the country. On the island of Kalimantan, a Dayak village organizes a sit-in to protest the destruction of their agricultural land and the desecration of sacred funeral sites by a multinational palm oil company. During the sit-in, eleven community leaders are arrested on charges of vandalism.

We follow the fates of Petrus Dukung and Benyamin Tawwakng, the two young Dayak leaders, as they face a corrupt political and judicial system. The involvement of human rights lawyers, student groups, and other activists bring the Dayak struggle to the attention of the media. We witness the power of organized demonstrations as activists question their government and voice doubts about the court's commitment to justice.

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