A Looming Past

A Looming Past (2010):  weaves together a multi-layered narrative of the lives of traditional coarse blanket makers in a small southern Indian village in Karnataka State, Yaravarahalli.  This documentary not only shows the ancient process of blanket weaving but also subtly reveals the relationship between the weaver and shepherd as well as the weaver and trader, all of whom belong to the same broadly-defined caste; the Kuruba.  A Looming Past is an attempt to capture the sights and sounds of an ancient occupation in its contemporary and increasingly frayed context and at a critical juncture in its long and textured history.

• Screened at Dokubazaar: Ljubljana Independent Documentary Film Festival, Slovenia, 2010
• Screened at Forumdoc.bh.2010: 14e Documentary and Ethnographic Film Festival, Brazil
• Screened at 3^rd ETNOFilm: Festival of Ethnographic Film, Rovinj, Croatia, 2011.
• Screened at the 12^th Royal Anthropological Institute International Festival of Ethnographic Film, London, 2011.
• Screened at Days of Ethnographic Cinema, Russia, 2011.

The entire film (in 3 parts) has been uploaded on Youtube.  Follow this link to watch the film.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=studiokabooka&oq=studiokabooka&gs_l=youtube.3..35i39.35.1269.0.1494.8.8.0.0.0.0.174.667.4j3.7.0...0.0...1ac.7cwE6vbZE-Q

Please do send me your comments about the film.







 
 

The Curse of Talakad

 

The Curse of Talakad was completed in 2005 after a year and a half of intense research. It was Francis Buchanan's Journey that gave me that final breakthrough I was looking for.

You can watch the entire documentary on Youtube; follow this link:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=studiokabooka&oq=studiokabooka&gs_l=youtube.12...0.0.0.13008.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0...0.0...1ac.



 The Curse of Talakad was screened at several film festivals;

• Film South Asia ’05 (Kathmandu, Nepal)
• The International Film and Video Festival (Oregon, USA),
• XVIII International Festival of Archaeological Films (Rovereto, Italy)
• VII International Archaeology Film Festival (Bidasoa, Spain)
• AGON, 6th International Meeting of Archaeological Film of the Mediterranean Area (Greece)
• Screenings were also held at National Institute for Advanced Studies (NIAS, Bangalore), Suchitra Film Society, Bangalore International Centre and Bangalore Club.

I also published The Curse of Talakad as a book, which has a lot more historical details than the doc.

Watch it and let me know what you think.