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An Autumn Fable
Duphang-Ni Solo

INDIA / 1997 / Bodo / Color /35mm/ 45 min

Director, Script, Narration: Pinky B. Choudhury
Script, Editing: Shobhit Jain
Photography: Sameer Mahajan
Producer: Neeraj Suji
Production Company, Source: Rajindra Films
C1 / 22, 1st Floor, Safdarjung Devp. Area, New Delhi 110016 INDIA
Phone: 91-11-6852546 / 6517129
Fax: 91-11-6868618
E-mail: nsuji@ndb.vsnl.n et.in



Pinky Brahma Choudhury

Post-graduate in Film Direction from Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. She has been working as an independent filmmaker since 1992. Her short fiction film Ether (35mm), a student film produced by FTII, was screened and widely appreciated at several international festivals. She has directed several ethnographic films for television including a travelogue series on the cultural and political aspects of northeastern India. Her latest venture was a television series critiquing the development of northeastern India since the nation became independent 50 years ago. An Autumn Fable is her first work on celluloid since her student film at FTII. It was screened at the Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) and was the opening film at the recent 30th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in the India Panorama section.



A conniving muscleman with the strength and appetite of a dozen men; a prince kidnapped as a child returns to claim his throne disguised as a beast; a beautiful princess whose swordplay defeats all. Each autumn, the Bodo tribespeople act out legends from an ancient tradition under the open night sky. Songs, dances, and fighting scenes set against lively music entertain... and provide a marked contrast to the day shots of tension in the conflict-stricken region.

Director's Statement

The Bodos are one of the tribes inhabiting the state of Assam in the northeastern part of Indian territory. The community has been fighting for political identity, demanding a separate state on the ground that they speak a different language and live a different culture. Getting caught in the web of intra-faction fights and narrow politics, the movement turned violent and got consumed by it. The community suffered immensely. Fear, uncertainty, and suspicion rule the minds of the people. There is silence in the valley. Silence born out of fear and mistrust. Nobody wants to either remember or speak. Everybody seems to drown in amnesia.
Against this striking silence are juxtaposed the most conspicuous features of the land - the slogans on the walls, the armed soldiers, the relief camps and the bombarded broken bridges. They stand as testimony to the ravage of the place. Along with these, are the whispers of this land echoing since time immemorial in the form of stories and plays. Tales that were always a part of the language but now lost in the turmoil of the times. These stories are used in interplay with reality to reflect the void left in the present times with a hope that memories are invoked to link life with a desire to live.
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COPYRIGHT:Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival Organizing Committee