Languages Archives: Hindi

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A high angle of a man wearing a backpack walking down the shoreline next to the blue ocean.

The Mission

  Jesse Moss, Amanda McBaine

  United States, India     104 minutes

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.

 English, Hindi, Latin, Onge, Piraha, Sarikoli with subtitles 

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Jonathan Chinn, Simon Chinn, Will Cohen, Jesse Moss, Amanda McBaine
  •   Doug Bock Clark, Carolyn Bernstein
  •   Lightbox, Mile End Films

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Logo: WTTW (2019)Cynthia Stone Raskin

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A dirty, bloodied man holds a baby close to him, his other hand flung behind him off camera.

Joram

  Devashish Makhija

  India     138 minutes

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.

 Hindi with subtitles 

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Shariq Patel, Ashima Avasthi Chaudhuri, Anupama Bose, Devashish Makhija
  •   Devashish Makhija
  •   Abhro Banerjee
  •   Piyush Puty
  •   Manoj Bajpayee, Mohd. Zeeshan Ayyub, Smita Tambe, Megha Mathur, Tannishtha Chatterjee
  •   Mangesh Dhakde
  •   Zee Studios, Makhijafilm

Patang

In Patang, a successful Delhi businessman returns to his familial home, urban-bred daughter in tow, for a surprise visit during India’s largest kite festival. The excitement of their homecoming soon fades as long-held resentments and distrust surface.

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