JOIN USDocus highlight the country
In the lesser known town of Badayun in UP the shrine of a Sufi saint is a space for some women to express their longings and transgressions. Others visiting the shrine feel that these women are not normal, that they are ‘afflicted’ by spirits. This drama unfolds in Iram Ghufran’s documentary There is Something in the Air, a film that presents a series of dream narratives, appearances of djinns and disappearances of women.
The documentary won the Best Director and Best Editing Awards at the 59th National Film Awards in 2011 and its producer Public Service Broadcasting Trust once more showcased it as part of the ongoing 15th anniversary celebrations of India Habitat Centre. In fact, PSBT organised a two-day long event where films by award-winning filmmakers were screened.
Documentaries like Fragments of Past by Uma Chakravarti, Much Ado About Knotting by Geetika Narang Abbasi and Anadana Kapur, Harjant Gill’s Roots of Love and Vani Subramanian’s Ayodhya Gatha were the highlights on day one. There were other films like Fiddlers in the Thatch by Trisha Das which presented a beautiful interconnection between four people via violin. The film explores how music gives them confidence and makes them feel complete.
The now well-known documentary A Ray of Sunshine by Aparna Sanyal was also screened. The film takes a contrarian view towards recovery from schizophrenia, proposing that patient should be encouraged and empowered to become an equal
partner in the process of healing. Director Avijit Mukul Kishore’s award-winning film Vertical City was also screened. It is a virtual essay on slum dwellers of Mumbai who were moved into high-rise apartments with the promise of better life, but the move has proved counter-productive. The film lets the audience experience the oppressive spaces and poor living conditions of places hidden away in metropolitan cities.
The second day saw screening of films like Cancer Katha by Vasudha Joshi, a film made on the filmmaker’s brush with cancer. Pankaj Rishi Kumar’s Pather Chujeri, a documentary revolving around Bhand Pather of Kashmir which highlights the issue of art
being restricted and lost in a scenario beset by terrorism; In Camera by Ranjan Palit; Video Game by Vipin Vijay; Mindscapes..Of Love and Longing by Arun Chadha and Nirnay by Pushpa Rawat and Anupam Srinivasan.
For the audience Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Gosh’s Timbaktu was the real treat. A documentary based on the small farming community of Andhra Pradesh who have switched over from their decade-old practice of chemical farming to organic farming. The festival ended with Akanksha Joshi’s Earth Witness: Reflection on the Times and the Timeless where a teacher, farmer, shepherd and a father find themselves on the front line of the most complex crises: climate change.