An astonishing English tourist’s view of street life in pre-partition Srinagar and Kashmir.
Set in a small town in the region of Tamil Nadu, in southern India, the film follows the days and works of a hijra family. Silky, Mahima, Trisha, Durga, Kuyili, Priyanka, Vasundhara and Yamuna, under the firm protection of their guru Lakshmi Ma, deliver snippets of their marginal but sovereign existence. From a millenia-old sacred tradition to getting by every second, "Guru" composes with them a poem of intertwined voices in which the world is a tough playground, where the third gender is primarily the resistance force of a life shared.
With the construction of the Indian planned city of Chandigarh, the Swiss and French architect Le Corbusier completed his life's work 70 years ago. Chandigarh is a controversial synthesis of the arts, a bold utopia of modernity. The film accompanies four cultural workers who live in the planned city and reflects on Le Corbusier's legacy, utopian urban ideas and the cultural differences between East and West in an atmospherically dense narrative.
Ancient Explorer, Amish Shah travels to the west coast of India in search of an ancient submerged city. With a passion for the truth, he stumbles into a cover up and in this film, he goes public with what he found.
Roving foodies Angela May and Bobby Chinn embark on two culinary journeys across Asia. Angela travels to the western coast of India to sample the cuisine and culture of the thriving melting pot that is Goa. Meanwhile, Bobby travels to Manila where he discovers a passionate and humorous people, and their love of food.
The Real Story of Fake Democracy. Filmed over three years in five countries, FREEDOM FOR THE WOLF is an epic investigation into the new regime of illiberal democracy. From the young students of Hong Kong, to a rapper in post-Arab Spring Tunisia and the viral comedians of Bollywood, we discover how people from every corner of the globe are fighting the same struggle. They are fighting against elected leaders who trample on human rights, minorities, and their political opponents.
Every individual confronts fundamental questions about the nature of reality, self-identity, and elusive happiness, yet few make these their life goal. An international group of students have traveled to a monastery in a remote area of southern India with the single purpose of discovering these answers. GURUKULAM is a journey into their lives, a wisdom tradition, and the contemplative space in which it is carried.
A Suitable Girl follows three young women in India struggling to maintain their identities and follow their dreams amid intense pressure to get married. The film examines the women's complex relationship with marriage, family, and society.
I enjoy religion, I appreciate belief systems and how they offer structure to people's lives. I also appreciate how spirituality manifests itself in Asian cultures as this almost earthbound presence guiding people through every day life and when they need an extra bit of help they need only ask whichever deity holds dominion over their desire. Here is an experimental film I made with videos from my iPhone. Shot across Taiwan and South Korea. An experimental film I made with videos from my iPhone. Shot across Taiwan and Korea. My aim was to explore success in how it pertains to every day life, the satisfaction of small moments, spirituality, superstition, and daily rituals.
A stunning trek from the vale of Kashmir, via Sind Valley and Kargil and Lamayaru Monastry.
A 4 year-old boy stands in awe of a 1,000 year-old Viking boat in a small Norwegian museum and finds within its silent grace an impressionistic sweep of picture and music revealing the rich spirit of Norway and its people. (This is the movie that was shown after the Maelstrom Ride in Epcot Center)
A short film showing the industrial process of jute works in India.
Botanical gardens in Bombay plus the highly decorative Jain Temple in Calcutta.
The film show the day to day running of the Titaghur Jute company, which is in Bengal on the banks of the river Hooghly. Opening shot 360 degree pan of industrial buildings. 7000 Indian workers are employed, mostly women and children. There parks for the children to play. We follow the process from jute to cloth women working at looms in the factory (very dark), shots of power plant. Schools and workers accommodations. Shots of trains and boats, loading.
In 1968, a convoy set off to transport a Calandria, the 70-ton core of a Canadian nuclear reactor, to Rajasthan in India. Even the largest semi-trailers could not keep up with this transport, which drove over specially reinforced roads and through city walls that had been demolished to make room.
A documentary exploring the "respectable" and "immoral" stereotypes of women in Indian society told from the point of view of 2 strip-tease dancers in a cabaret house in Bombay.
Rumer Godden the 88 year old author is taken back to India, where she lived from 1908-1945 to revisit her unconventional life there and to share with her daughter the experiences which inform all her writing.