Credit: Speical Arrangement
A short experimental documentary directed by Mahishaa of Neelavarana, an Ambedkarite forum based in Bengaluru, will be screened on Sunday. Called Babasaheb in Bengaluru, it’s the only Kannada work being screened at the 12th International Festival of Moving Image Art by Experimenta.
The documentary of 4-minute-41-second premiered in Berlin at an anti-caste gathering titled ‘Disrupting protected ignorance’ at the House of World Cultures (HKW) in August.
“The film also works as a video installation,” explains Mahishaa. He says the basic idea of the film was to explore the meaning behind the city’s many Ambedkar statues. Is it idol worship? Mahishaa explores such questions through the film.
The inspiration for the film came to Mahishaa while walking around Indiranagar’s 80 Feet Road. “Indiranagar is urban and known for its cafes, pubs and restaurants. But you can also see a lot of Babasaheb imagery in the area. The contrast of the Babasaheb imagery against the urban setting offers insight into the community that inhabits the area. This is a microcosm of Bengaluru as a city,” he says.
Interestingly, Mahishaa discovered that most of the Ambedkar statues are built by the people, not the government. “They are funded by the people whose income comes from daily wages,” he shares.
He came across many stories behind the statues. These stories led him to make the film because Ambedkar was inherently against idol worship.
The film is the outcome of four years of observation and research. Most of the footage was shot in 2021.
Babasaheb in Bengaluru on December 8, 4 pm at Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, Indiranagar. Entry free.