ACF Asian Cinema Fund

Asian Network of Documentary(AND) Fund

2011

2011 Asian Network of Documentary (AND) Fund

LIST Char... the No-Man′s Island (aka. Char... the Island Within)
Category BIFF Supporters Fund
Project Char... the No-Man′s Island (aka. Char... the Island Within)
Director Sourav SARANGI
Country India
Director's Profile After graduating from the Presidency College, Kolkata, Sourav Sarangi joined the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune specializing in editing. His debut film [Tusukatha] drew accolades from many leading international film festivals. Since then, he has edited, written, directed and produced both fiction and non-fictional films.
He is currently involved in international co-productions as an independent producer and director. His recent award-winning work is an international co-production documentary titled [Bilal], featuring a three-year-old child growing up with blind parents in Kolkata. [Bilal] was presented at more than fifty international festivals and won nearly twenty top awards.
He worked as the chief editor on an Indo-Italian co-production in Rome and Naples. Sourav has also worked extensively for private television channels in India as chief programming director.
Synopsis
Many moons ago, a deluge with fish and tortoises descended from heaven, and formed the River Ganga. Today the river acts as the international border between India and Bangladesh.
Rubel, a fourteen-year-old child, lives on this border. When his family home was lost to erosion, they moved to a tiny and fragile island called Char. Despite the dangers involved, he smuggles rice to survive by crossing the border. In this ever-changing landscape, the winds blow strongly in the summer, the clouds roll and monsoon arrives. Some distance away stands a colossal dam, but this grand invention did not help Rubel; he lost his home to the hungry tides of the river goddess regardless. Rubel dreams of joining a school across the river. And of living on the mainland where cars run on gas and electric lamps burn that much brighter.
I travel with Rubel to the cracking edge of the island. Will Char erode as well?
Director's Note
Everything is a subject, everyone is a character, but I can only film when it intrigues and confuses me like Char. Can a river be made a border between people? What happens when the river moves and the border does not? Where do the people go when the river erodes? The answer was Char, a no-man’s land, an island within the river. I was one forbidden visitor in this perilous borderland.
And in Char I met some people whose lives have changed. Or am I a changed person coming from the mainland? The film was born in my mind in this ambivalence… in this twilight zone. And I realized that the elusive waters of Ganga held many stories. I was tempted and started shooting… for me this is the best way.
Festivals
2012 Busan International Film Festival - Wide Angle_Documentary Competition
2012 Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival - Grand Prize Golden Kapok
2012 CHOP SHOTS Documentary Film Festival - Best Documentary (international)
2012 International Film Festival of India, Goa? - Indian Panorama
2012 Dubai International Film Festival - Muhr Documentary competition
2012 Dhaka International Short & Independent Film Festival
2012 National Film Awards, India - Silver Lotus Award
2013 Berlin International Film Festival - Forum
2013 Tartu World Film Festival
2013 ImagineIndia International Film Festival
2013 El Ojo Cojo International Film Festival - Best Feature Film Award
2013 Film South Asia - Best Film
2013 Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival - Sepcial Mention of the Jury
2013 Munich International Documentary Festival
2013 Tiburon International Film Festival - Golden Reel Award
2013 Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival
2014 Geneva International Independent Film Festival (Black Movie)
2014 CMS VATAVARAN International Film Festival and Forum - Best of the Festival
2015 International Documentary Festival of Ierapetra - Best International Feature Documentary Award
Still Cut
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