Synopsis

In 2018, a shocking event made headlines around the world: A young American missionary, John Chau, was killed while attempting to contact one of the world’s most isolated Indigenous peoples in the South Sentinel Island in the Bay of Bengal. Combining an amazing collection of archival videos with soul-searching interviews with his father, friends, and colleagues, this absorbing documentary recounts the complex journey of a well-meaning and passionate — though perhaps misguided — man.

From Emmy-winning co-directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss (Boys State) and Oscar-winning producer Simon Chinn (Man on Wire), The Mission digs deep into a host of profound issues. It interrogates the same kind of anthropological documentary that it draws from, and asks penetrating questions about the lines between faith and fanaticism, exploration and exploitation, and imagination and destruction.

Synopsis

A noir-tinged cat-and-mouse thriller told through the lens of tribal politics, Joram examines India’s Indigenous communities via the story of Dasru, a laborer from the remote jungle region of Jharkhand. When we first meet Dasru and his wife, Vaano, they’re living in a makeshift shelter on a construction site in Mumbai. Then a shocking — and seemingly random — act of violence sends Dasru fleeing through the city with the couple’s infant daughter, Joram, strapped to his back.

With nowhere else to go, Dasru makes his way back to his home state with Joram still in his arms. Father and daughter are pursued by Ratnakar, a Mumbai policeman whose modern sensibilities clash with the tribal lifestyle that still prevails in Jharkhand. (One scene sees the cop reacting in disbelief when a motorcycle driver tells him that locals have cell phones, but rarely use them.) But Dasru and Ratnakar have more in common than either man thinks. And what role does Phulo Karma, a local matriarch tacitly aligning with the government forces seeking to strip the region of its natural resources, play in Dasru’s plight?

Joram paints an expansive picture of its characters and their worlds, creating essential context for the power struggles and societal forces that shape the lives of everyday Indians caught up in — and left behind by — modernization.