Loin de l'Œil has organized the shooting of three films related to the movement Ekta Parishad, from its origins in the early 70's to its biggest achievement - the Janadesh. Total duration will be about 1:30 to 2 hours.
"Chambal a maze of deep ravines and scrub forests that has hidden generations of outlaws" (The Associated Press, International Herald Tribune, November 4, 2006)
In the early 70's, the life in Chambal Valley was regulated by the war between the dacoits (Indian word for "bandit") and the police. Dacoits were very popular, as they were used to distribute a part of their robberies among a huge part of the population, while another part was suffering from their crimes.
Violence was so tremendous that the common men were not able to go out of their houses after sunset. The police was forced to call the border security force (para-military groups). but it was not sufficient...
Then came a dozen of Gandhian activists who pretended they could pacify that valley by using non-violent methods...
Interim title: Surviving bonded labour
A bonded labourer is a person who signs a contract to work for a specific period of time, for which he or she is paid only with accommodation and sustenance in order to repay a loan.
Bonded labour is the most widely used method of enslaving people.
In the 80's, Rajagopal was appointed by the Supreme Court of India as an Enquiry Commissioner on the issue of Bonded Labour which affected millions of Indians. Thanks to his action, thousands of people were released from bondage.
The movie is focussing on some released families, settled in South India, and their day to day battle to live a descent life, on the ashes of their damned past.
Interim title: For a fistful of land
In october 2007, 25000 landless people walked 350 km together to give the government the "people's verdict" - the Janadesh.
Behind that effort, a non-violent movement called Ekta Parishad. Under the leadership of the charismatic Rajagopal, Ekta Parishad has been working for over a decade with the poorest among the poor to get the recognition of their right to control land, water and forest.
How does it works? How do they manage to organise Janadesh, that largest non-violent event in India since its independence in 1947?
This is the story of a mass based organisation which is adjusting the Gandhian philosophy with modern India.
We had the opportunity to shoot some extra topics, here follows some information about. We cannot tell yet what will be done with this.
Please visit the dedicated page.
Note: It was our first Cinelerra test in production situation, in a hurry, under an old laptop and with New Delhi's regular power cuts. So please show us some leniency, we aim to improve for the final documentaries :-)
Information yet to come.
