To Miss the Woods
program description
Cinema might have originated in the West, but in South Asia it is domesticated and venerated. Bolly, Lolly, Tolly, Kolly, and other woods of the region have thrived, conforming to and even amplifying the inherent social hierarchies and cultural hegemonies of the region, namely caste, class, religion, languages, clan, aesthetics, and geography, among others. Yet the cinematic expressions that did not conform to this hegemony were bereaved of a wider exposure.
To Miss the Woods invites the audience to literally ‘miss the woods for the trees’ and explore the diverse cinematic flora that has emerged beyond the defined woods. We present to you a bouquet of films from South Asia that are a labor of love and are made with care for community rather than the market. We hope that this selection will inspire and challenge the audience to reimagine the South Asian cinemascape.
about the curator
Abhishek Nilamber is a cultural worker engaged in curation, research, and activism, transituated between Berlin and Kochi. He is the instigator of United Screens – a project that enquires into the challenges and opportunities between South to South cinema and video art circulation.
Pakistan, 2015, 1h 33m
An elderly man living in the Jalozai Camp feels desperately nostalgic and longs to go home.
India, 2013, 35m
Kucheipadar, a Khonda tribal village in Odisha, India, is a bauxite-rich block that, since India’s economic liberalization, has been the subject of violent conflict between the indigenous Adivasi inhabitants and a mining venture.
India, 2017, 15m
Eye Test is a short fiction film which explores the affective atmosphere of a mother-daughter relationship, death and bereavment through the realm of memory, following her own mother’s death a few years back.
India, 2022, 1h 2m
For generations, the transgender women of Kashmir have worked as matchmakers and performers but their gender, economic and socio-political realities make them some of the most vulnerable people in the world today.
India, 2019, 1h 4m
Sapna Moti Bhavnani tells the story of her ancestral community, the Sindhis, through personal stories and illustrations on skin— tattoos.
Pakistan, 2021, 19m
A filmmaker researching the archeological history of Balochistan discovers that the place he comes from has great archeological significance but it is largely undocumented.
UK, 2022, 3m
Movements Of Migration is a desktop documentary exploring the archive to map the connectedness of movement, migration and family histories.
India, 2017, 1h 14m
In a neighborhood in Bhopal, chess is a popular pass time with roadside games bringing together men from different strata.
Bangladesh, 2019, 56m
The story is about the mundane life of a tea community, where the old chief Padmoluv awaits his death and often reminisces about the past controlled by the colonial masters.
