A Delicate Weave
Anjali Monteiro and KP Jayasankar | Filmmaker
A Delicate Weave
https://delicateweave.wordpress.com/
A film by Anjali Monteiro and KP Jayasankar
Kutchi and Hindi with English subtitles, 62 Mins, 2017
School of Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India
A Delicate Weave, set in Kachchh, Gujarat, India, traces four different musical journeys, all converging in the ways they affirm religious diversity, syncretism and love of the other. Drawing on the poetic and musical traditions of Kabir and Shah Bhitai, as well as the folk traditions of the region, these remarkable musicians and singers bear testimony to how these oral traditions of compassion are being passed down from one generation to the next.
Whether it is the group of young men in Bhujodi who meet every night to sing the bhajans of Kabir, or the feisty women from Lakhpat, who quietly subvert gender roles through their music performances, or Noor Mohammad Sodha, who plays and teaches exquisite flute music, or Jiant Khan and his disciples, whose love for the Sufi poet Bhitai is expressed through the ethereal form of Waee singing—all these passionate musicians keep alive this delicate weave, committed to the project of what Naranbhai, a carpet weaver and community archivist from Bhujodi calls “breaking down the walls”; walls that have been built up through the politics of hate and intolerance that marks our times.
This is the latest in the Kachchh Trilogy— the earlier ones are A Two Day Fair , 2009 (Do Din Ka Mela) and Like Here Like There , 2011 (So Heddan So Hoddan)
About the Directors
Dr. Anjali Monteiro and Dr. K.P. Jayasankar are Professors at the School of Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India. They are involved in documentary production, media teaching and research. They have made over 35 documentary films. Their films have been screened at film festivals all over the world and have won thirty-two awards. They serve as visiting faculty at several media and design institutions in India and abroad. They write in the area of media and cultural studies and have a book on independent documentary film in India, A Fly in the Curry, Sage, 2016, which has won a Special Mention for the best book on cinema in the National Film Awards, 2016.
Credits
Script and Direction: Anjali Monteiro and KP Jayasankar
Camera: KP Jayasankar
Editing: Anjali Monteiro and KP Jayasankar
Location Sound: Harikumar M. and Suresh Rajamani
In collaboration with Kutch Mahila Vikas Sanghatan
Production support: MurthyNayak Foundation and Jamsetji Tata Trust
