It’s no dream. It’s reality. It’s not fiction. It’s harsh fact. It’s not an Aesopian fable. Told with faith and fortitude, it’s a soulful saga that is nearly “4,000 children long” as its principal progenitor and the brain behind Bangalore’s Bornfree Foundation John Devraj describes the trail-blazing monumental, epic film History Expedition.
Inspired by Che Guevara’s Motorcycle Diaries, Bornfree’s very own 15 such prodigious Che Guevaras, traversed the length and breadth of Goa, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, cyclying nearly 4040 kms to capture on camera the relentless war being waged by their less fortunate brethren in various parts the “toiling and innocent children all shackled to labour.”
Suchitra Film Society is screening History Expedition which, through ingenuous and inspirational team of 15 enterprising former child workers, captures on celluloid the “working conditions of children and child labour” in these southern states, providing “empirical and visual document of the travails and tribulations of” these Children of Lesser God.
Cherishing dream of liberating others like themselves still leading a life of misery, these brave brood traversed through 27 districts of Karnataka, Canacona of Goa, Krishnagiri District of Tamil Nadu, to faithfully capture the conditions in typical commando fashion.
Tackling tough terrains, equally hostile humans, trying conditions, these legionnaires, cycled, armed with automatic cameras, on a Mission Impossible, rendering it into the truly History Expedition. The pioneering and path-breaking project, that leaves one shell-shocked through its stunning and stark graphic records, is indeed, a real-life docu-drama not to be missed.
From brick kilns, to sea ports, to pit mines, from chilly fields, dairy farms to cotton belts, from silk yards to coffee estates, prickly rose gardens, not to forget other manual and physical assaults on young adults, death and drudgery stalking every moment of their lives, it’s really one haunting and humbling expose that should leave you stricken conscience.
With John Devraj and coordinator Mioi Nakayama holding beacon for these children to light the torch into life’s small little truths, History Expedition, is a journey that every adult should join in.
Drop in at Suchitra, Banashankari II Stage, 6.45 pm, this Saturday, and be awoken into a whole new world which we let pass each day with our Eyes firmly Wide Open. Call 26711785.
