The Village Documentary is done!!! On Amazon!
The village documentary is now on Amazon! YAY!!! Feel free to check it out and spread the word if you like it.
("Leaving home is never easy.")It's been two years since the last post. Time flies! Since then, my new friends have turned into "old" friends and everyone has gone their separate ways, while keeping in touch of course. Life in California is way easier aka less challenging than in India, but that also means a little more ordinary. One of the things that has continued is working on the village documentary, which is about how people in the village are moving towards the city.
In October 2010, "Palayan: A Story of Exodus" played at the Commffest Global Community Film Festival in Toronto, which focuses on social issues and change. Our student producer Shubhi who is now studying at Pratt Institute flew to Toronto to represent us!
In January 2011, the documentary screened at the the Script Film Festival (for social justice and change) in Cochin, Kerela, India. Our film competed in the student category against heavyweights such as the Centre for Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences Mumbai, and Satyajit Ray Film Institute Kolkata. And guess what? We won 2nd place!!! That included a trophy and Rs.15,000 which will go back to the villagers. A famous South Indian actress named Revathi was head of the jury and watched our film, whoohoo! Our student writer Neha Abraham flew to Kerela to represent us; as she said in the documentary, she has remained in India.
(Neha receiving the award at Script Film Festival)After hours and hours of more editing (thanks Vanessa!) and hours of artwork design (thanks Diana!), the dvd is now on Amazon starting today. Feel free to join the facebook fan page at "Palayan: A Story of Exodus". All proceeds will go towards the villagers.
("Coming Soon to Amazon" flyer)For people who have followed this blog, thank you again! There have been many more adventures since India, such as teaching English in Korea and traveling to Nepal and Bhutan to visit Woodstock students and explore. (A shout out to my student's father Chhimmy -- his company is Baeyul Treks and he's awesome!) CLICK HERE for photos. Besides teaching math, I now also teach a class on tv production. Yay!
(With Chhimmy and the gang in Bhutan. Summer 2011)
