The Hindu funeral of a holy man in Agra; two women in saris recycling cow dung in a village in Uttar Pradesh; a puppet show inside a Roma caravan in Jaipur; the lake that no longer exists in Pushkar; the human tide that gathers every twelve years in Haridwar for the Kumbha Mela: these are just some of the places, stories and characters at the heart of this documentary. Indian Flow is a journey through the unfolding of ordinary and extraordinary events in the lives of common people in India. A “flow” from which emerges the richness of a particularly evocative way of thinking, acting and existing.
Documentary, 52′ – 2011
Directed by Giuseppe Petruzzellis
Produced by Aplysia
With the support of PDB – Produzioni dal basso, Associazione Fuoriorario, Camp@art Festival, Interculturale.net
Director’s Notes
Indian Flow testifies to what can happen when one allows oneself to be carried by the “flow” of India, without missing the opportunity to observe closely a reality that is culturally and sociologically rich in food for thought. Direct contact with local people makes it possible to share the naturalness found in the thousand small rituals that punctuate the life of the Indian people. Going to the river at dawn to bathe and do the laundry; a joyful funeral attended by an entire village; a mass pilgrimage involving over 50 million Hindus; the chaotic swarm of life in the streets; the faces, gestures and words of people encountered by chance. Indians are the absolute protagonists of this documentary, in which observation goes hand in hand with interaction. It is difficult to remain indifferent to the curiosity that Indians have towards the foreign traveller, and to that availability which at times seems to border on intrusiveness. The feeling one gets is that in India one is never alone. You sense it even in something as simple as walking down the street, discovering how easy it is to make contact with almost anyone, fuelling a continuous flow of interpersonal communication, relationships, exchanges of words, glances and experiences.
Production notes
Indian Flow is an independent documentary, made through an experiment in collective publishing. The majority of production costs were covered by the many supporters who believed in this project, pre-ordering the documentary DVD through the crowdfunding platform Produzionidalbasso.com
Distribution / Festivals
2012 – Pigneto città aperta
2012 – Green Social Festival
2011 – Kef’Art Festival
2011 – Vibrazione Indiane
2011 – Ischia Film Festival
Credits
Narrator Alessandro Rugnone
Visual Effects Ameleto Cascio
Production assistant Chiara Mazzatorta
Soundtrack: Archangel, BekBekson, Cyclical, Demon Doctor, Ektaal, El Perez, Hilight Tribe, Jadu, Masaladosa, Mellzo, Mirabar, Ras Tilo, R. Dario, Tlan, Alas Media, Vladiswar Nadishana, Zeropage
Additional Video: The Common Language Project
Additional Audio: Claudio Curciotti
Translations Heather Walsh
Press office Giuseppe Cangelosi