As Sourav Sarangi’s Char…The No Man’s Island heads to the most experimental section ‘Berlinale Forum’ of the Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 7-17), DearCinema talks to the director about his journey of making the documentary:
What was the starting point for the film?
Sourav Sarangi
It started around 2002-2003 when I witnessed a whole village close to the India-Bangladesh border disappearing into the river Ganga due to erosion. The houses, the trees, the roads, the structures; everything that the people created over the years was going down. That image itself struck me immensely; I saw that overnight hundreds and thousands of people became homeless. I was making a journalistic film with my friend about river erosion. We made the film but this question haunted me – where do all these people go? And where does the huge expanse of land go? The question remained within me and I kept visiting the place,...
What was the starting point for the film?
Sourav Sarangi
It started around 2002-2003 when I witnessed a whole village close to the India-Bangladesh border disappearing into the river Ganga due to erosion. The houses, the trees, the roads, the structures; everything that the people created over the years was going down. That image itself struck me immensely; I saw that overnight hundreds and thousands of people became homeless. I was making a journalistic film with my friend about river erosion. We made the film but this question haunted me – where do all these people go? And where does the huge expanse of land go? The question remained within me and I kept visiting the place,...
- 2/6/2013
- by Anita Thomas
- DearCinema.com
Locarno Open Doors will be held alongside the 64th Locarno International Film Festival from August 6-9, 2011. Open Doors 2011 that focuses on India has selected 12 projects for its co-production lab. Sourav Sarangi’s Char, The Island Within is one of them. His documentary Bilal won the National Award for Best Non-Feature Film in 2010. In the sixth in the series, DearCinema brings to you details about the filmmaker and the project, in the words of the filmmaker:
Many moons ago a deluge with fishes and tortoises descended from heaven called river Ganga!
Today the river acts as the international border between India and Bangladesh.
Rubel lives on this border. His family shifted to a tiny and fragile island called Char within the river after their home got eroded years back. The fourteen years kid smuggles rice to survive by crossing the border.
In summer, wind blows strong in this changing landscape, the clouds roll and monsoon arrives.
Many moons ago a deluge with fishes and tortoises descended from heaven called river Ganga!
Today the river acts as the international border between India and Bangladesh.
Rubel lives on this border. His family shifted to a tiny and fragile island called Char within the river after their home got eroded years back. The fourteen years kid smuggles rice to survive by crossing the border.
In summer, wind blows strong in this changing landscape, the clouds roll and monsoon arrives.
- 8/8/2011
- by Sourav Sarangi
- DearCinema.com
Date: 24 May 2010 (All day) - 6 June 2010 (All day) Organizer: Under Construction Location: Auditorium 2, Siri Fort Auditorium Complex, August Kranti Marg, New Delhi
Following is the schedule for these films:
27th May: 6:00 pmin For Motion, Director: Anirban Datta, English, 60 mins.
29th May: 1:00 pmThe Latent City, Director: Krishnendu Bose, English, 58 mins.
2nd June: 6:30 pmI’m The Very Beautiful, Director: Shyamal Karmakar, Bengali, 65 mins.
3rd June: 6:30 pmKya Main Qafir Hoon?, Director: Sandhir Flora, Hindi, 56 mins.
Bilal, Director: Sourav Sarangi, Bengali, 88 mins.
31st May: 6:30 pmVitthal, Director: Vinoo Choliparambil, Marathi, 24 mins.
27th May: 1:00 pmSwaymabhu Sen Foresees His End, Director: Debashish Medhekar, Hindi / English, 20 mins.
4th June: 6:30 pmEkti Kaktaliya Golpo, Director: Tathagata Singha, Bengali, 10 mins.
Entry Free, Passes can be collected from the Ticket Counter of Audi-2...
Following is the schedule for these films:
27th May: 6:00 pmin For Motion, Director: Anirban Datta, English, 60 mins.
29th May: 1:00 pmThe Latent City, Director: Krishnendu Bose, English, 58 mins.
2nd June: 6:30 pmI’m The Very Beautiful, Director: Shyamal Karmakar, Bengali, 65 mins.
3rd June: 6:30 pmKya Main Qafir Hoon?, Director: Sandhir Flora, Hindi, 56 mins.
Bilal, Director: Sourav Sarangi, Bengali, 88 mins.
31st May: 6:30 pmVitthal, Director: Vinoo Choliparambil, Marathi, 24 mins.
27th May: 1:00 pmSwaymabhu Sen Foresees His End, Director: Debashish Medhekar, Hindi / English, 20 mins.
4th June: 6:30 pmEkti Kaktaliya Golpo, Director: Tathagata Singha, Bengali, 10 mins.
Entry Free, Passes can be collected from the Ticket Counter of Audi-2...
- 5/25/2010
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Wagah and Bilal will be screened in the international competition sections at the 50th edition of the Krakow Film festival. The festival will run from May 31- June 6.
Wagah, a thirteen minute film directed by Supriyo Sen is in the International Competition of short length documentary, fiction and animated films. The festival website writes about the film- “Wagah is a town on the border between India and Pakistan, the only road border crossing between two states in conflict. Every day it hosts a bizarre show. Military representations of both sides passionately cheered by an audience of several thousand, open the border for a moment, at the same time demonstrating their power and love for home country. The film shows this peculiar tradition through the eyes of three Indian boys, which only makes the grotesqueness of the situation as well as the fascination with border shows more conspicuous.”
Bilal, an 88 minute...
Wagah, a thirteen minute film directed by Supriyo Sen is in the International Competition of short length documentary, fiction and animated films. The festival website writes about the film- “Wagah is a town on the border between India and Pakistan, the only road border crossing between two states in conflict. Every day it hosts a bizarre show. Military representations of both sides passionately cheered by an audience of several thousand, open the border for a moment, at the same time demonstrating their power and love for home country. The film shows this peculiar tradition through the eyes of three Indian boys, which only makes the grotesqueness of the situation as well as the fascination with border shows more conspicuous.”
Bilal, an 88 minute...
- 4/11/2010
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Wagah and Bilal will be screened in the international competition sections at the 50th edition of the Krakow Film festival. The festival will run from May 31- June 6.
Wagah, a thirteen minute film directed by Supriyo Sen is in the International Competition of short length documentary, fiction and animated films. The festival website writes about the film- “Wagah is a town on the border between India and Pakistan, the only road border crossing between two states in conflict. Every day it hosts a bizarre show. Military representations of both sides passionately cheered by an audience of several thousand, open the border for a moment, at the same time demonstrating their power and love for home country. The film shows this peculiar tradition through the eyes of three Indian boys, which only makes the grotesqueness of the situation as well as the fascination with border shows more conspicuous.”
Bilal, an 88 minute...
Wagah, a thirteen minute film directed by Supriyo Sen is in the International Competition of short length documentary, fiction and animated films. The festival website writes about the film- “Wagah is a town on the border between India and Pakistan, the only road border crossing between two states in conflict. Every day it hosts a bizarre show. Military representations of both sides passionately cheered by an audience of several thousand, open the border for a moment, at the same time demonstrating their power and love for home country. The film shows this peculiar tradition through the eyes of three Indian boys, which only makes the grotesqueness of the situation as well as the fascination with border shows more conspicuous.”
Bilal, an 88 minute...
- 4/11/2010
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Three Indian films will be screened at the ninth East End film festival which will be held in London from April 22- 30. Bilal directed by Soura Sarangi will be shown which is a documentary about a 3 year old kid Bilal. Bilal and his brother can see perfectly well, but both their parents are blind. All four live in a 12’ x 8’ room in central Kolkata. It’s a tiny, tangible universe. Independent filmmaker Sourav Sarangi spent the best part of a year filming in this absorbing environment.
Actress Nandita Das’s debut film as a director Firaaq will also be screened at the festival. Based on a thousand true stories, Firaaq follows the life of several ordinary people, some who were victims, some who were silent observers and some perpetrators, set one month after the 2002 violence in Gujarat.
Land Gold Women directed by Avantika Hari is shot entirely on location in Birmingham.
Actress Nandita Das’s debut film as a director Firaaq will also be screened at the festival. Based on a thousand true stories, Firaaq follows the life of several ordinary people, some who were victims, some who were silent observers and some perpetrators, set one month after the 2002 violence in Gujarat.
Land Gold Women directed by Avantika Hari is shot entirely on location in Birmingham.
- 3/25/2010
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
The picturesque beaches of Puri in the eastern coast of India, light up every spring to welcome waves of creativity. A bunch of filmmakers and film-lovers gather in this temple town known for its rathyatra, to celebrate cinema in one-of-its-own-kind festival in the world. Bring Your Own Film Festival, as the name speaks for itself, is a carnival for young and seasoned filmmakers alike, who meet, discuss, screen and watch films. A festival where all the lines between programmers and producers, organizers and participants, audience and filmmakers get blurred. Gurpal Singh, one of the minds behind the festival, in a conversation with Bikas Mishra.
What's the idea behind the Byoff? How did it begin? Who all started it?
It started in 2004. A bunch of filmmakers and their film enthusiast friends while travelling in Orissa thought of having a space where we could all meet in a relaxed atmosphere and share each other’s works,...
What's the idea behind the Byoff? How did it begin? Who all started it?
It started in 2004. A bunch of filmmakers and their film enthusiast friends while travelling in Orissa thought of having a space where we could all meet in a relaxed atmosphere and share each other’s works,...
- 2/23/2010
- by Bikas Mishra
- DearCinema.com
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