Sab Kuch Milega
(All things are possible)
Collaborative film, 16 mins, 2016
Sarecha Village, Jodhpur, India
On the Sowing Seeds Residency, Kaman Art Foundation
This whimsical and poetic tale of a circus visiting a village was dreamt up with people in rural Jodphur, India. The people involved were the families on whose land the residency campsite was built, as well as men and teenagers working for the residency in positions like cook, labourer and logistics manager. Shot in three days on an old camcorder and using available materials, the film has a raw make-believe aesthetic. With a concept that further developed as relationships grew and ideas sprung up, villagers were cast as characters they created, in an invented world moulded into real, everyday spaces. Led by a Clown performed by me, the circus meets Grandma, Manisha, and Tarzan, dancing their way to the moon and back. The film shines a soft beam into its collaborators’ cosmic inner selves, reflecting on their ethereal connection with the dry and vast Rajasthani landscape.
Thank you to Sowing Seeds, Chiman Dangi, Vagaram Choudhary, Lalit Choudhary, artists of Sowing Seeds 2016, and the people who generously gave of their time to be in the film
Collaborative film, 16 mins, 2016
Sarecha Village, Jodhpur, India
On the Sowing Seeds Residency, Kaman Art Foundation
This whimsical and poetic tale of a circus visiting a village was dreamt up with people in rural Jodphur, India. The people involved were the families on whose land the residency campsite was built, as well as men and teenagers working for the residency in positions like cook, labourer and logistics manager. Shot in three days on an old camcorder and using available materials, the film has a raw make-believe aesthetic. With a concept that further developed as relationships grew and ideas sprung up, villagers were cast as characters they created, in an invented world moulded into real, everyday spaces. Led by a Clown performed by me, the circus meets Grandma, Manisha, and Tarzan, dancing their way to the moon and back. The film shines a soft beam into its collaborators’ cosmic inner selves, reflecting on their ethereal connection with the dry and vast Rajasthani landscape.
Thank you to Sowing Seeds, Chiman Dangi, Vagaram Choudhary, Lalit Choudhary, artists of Sowing Seeds 2016, and the people who generously gave of their time to be in the film
India is both grueling truth and colourful fiction. Working with non-actors in a film made for the villagers themselves, I blend reality and fantasy in an attempt to encapsulate India’s wild, whimsical and poetic facades. Shot with an organic, raw and enchanting visual feel, the film condenses, for me, an essence of India.
I wanted very much to get to know the families whose land we lived on and the men who took care of the campsite. What were the stories and make-believe characters inside them? Tapping into their collective imagination, I asked them to make up a tale about a circus visiting the village. The final story is a blend of their fantasies, filled in with mine.
My ongoing performance persona is Pierrot, a clown from the Commedia dell’arte tradition. A conduit for themes of existence, innocence, childhood and melancholy, I explore interactive possibilities of Pierrot in various mediums. Leading the circus in this project, Pierrot acts as a portal for the surreal to unfold- as I have done in real life.
Communal experience was the whole purpose, and the process was equally important as the final film. It was fascinating to take everyone involved out of daily reality into a surreal mode of play pretend. Whether it was the Cook, Campsite-In-Charge or mothers, each played a role, possibly inspired by their own selves, for our play sessions. One wanted to be Tarzan, another the grandma, and Manisha became the clown’s best friend. The communication barriers only made the process more interesting. Most special for me at the end was the friendships I made and the special experience we shared.
A DIY approach was both intended and taken out of necessity. With little materials, the cast had to help make props/sets like an outer space backdrop, put together with black cloth, tablecloth foil from the campsite kitchen and multani meti (Indian herbal facial mask). Many costumes were adapted from my own colourful suitcase and I painted faces from only four colours. It was a fruitful exercise in resourcefulness, in a place where they have so little.
Folksongs were collected from everyone including a troupe of elderly musicians (led by curator Chiman Dangi’s father) and grandmothers who seemed to carry a never-ending archive. The melancholic Par Desi was particularly moving when sung gently by the campsite Security Guard. It serves as a hymn for the end montage, a contemplative ode to the Rajasthani land and its inhabitants. Looking into a sequence of soulful, inimitable Rajasthani eyes with no more make believe, I attempt to find what was before hidden in the fantasy circus of life, and shine a soft beam into the people’s cosmic inner selves.
I wanted very much to get to know the families whose land we lived on and the men who took care of the campsite. What were the stories and make-believe characters inside them? Tapping into their collective imagination, I asked them to make up a tale about a circus visiting the village. The final story is a blend of their fantasies, filled in with mine.
My ongoing performance persona is Pierrot, a clown from the Commedia dell’arte tradition. A conduit for themes of existence, innocence, childhood and melancholy, I explore interactive possibilities of Pierrot in various mediums. Leading the circus in this project, Pierrot acts as a portal for the surreal to unfold- as I have done in real life.
Communal experience was the whole purpose, and the process was equally important as the final film. It was fascinating to take everyone involved out of daily reality into a surreal mode of play pretend. Whether it was the Cook, Campsite-In-Charge or mothers, each played a role, possibly inspired by their own selves, for our play sessions. One wanted to be Tarzan, another the grandma, and Manisha became the clown’s best friend. The communication barriers only made the process more interesting. Most special for me at the end was the friendships I made and the special experience we shared.
A DIY approach was both intended and taken out of necessity. With little materials, the cast had to help make props/sets like an outer space backdrop, put together with black cloth, tablecloth foil from the campsite kitchen and multani meti (Indian herbal facial mask). Many costumes were adapted from my own colourful suitcase and I painted faces from only four colours. It was a fruitful exercise in resourcefulness, in a place where they have so little.
Folksongs were collected from everyone including a troupe of elderly musicians (led by curator Chiman Dangi’s father) and grandmothers who seemed to carry a never-ending archive. The melancholic Par Desi was particularly moving when sung gently by the campsite Security Guard. It serves as a hymn for the end montage, a contemplative ode to the Rajasthani land and its inhabitants. Looking into a sequence of soulful, inimitable Rajasthani eyes with no more make believe, I attempt to find what was before hidden in the fantasy circus of life, and shine a soft beam into the people’s cosmic inner selves.