Films Now Available For Purchase!

DER is now set up to handle online purchases for both films. Here are the links:

• Acting Like A Thief
• Mahasweta Devi: Witness, Advocate, Writer

Contract!

We are happy to announce some very exciting news …

We signed a contract with Documentary Educational Resources (DER) to distribute two of our films: Acting Like A Thief, and Mahasweta Devi: Witness, Advocate, Writer. It was Shashwati’s film about Mahasweta Devi that got us involved with these issues, and because of Mahasweta Devi’s long time commitment to DNT rights, the two films make an excellent package for schools. DER is one of the foremost educational and anthropological film distributors in the world, and we are thrilled to have them promoting our work!

One of our biggest concerns in signing this contract was that Acting Like A Thief continue to be available as a free internet download for individuals and activist organizations, especially within India where people are unlikely to be able to pay for the DVD. I argued that there have recently been a number of examples of books and films being offered for free over the net, where such free distribution actually boosted sales rather than hurt them. I was very worried that a well established institution like DER would not be willing to experiment with such new distribution models, but we were very lucky. They assured us that the film would continue to remain a freely available internet download for individual users. We couldn’t imagine finding a better company to distribute our work!

You can currently continue to download the bittorrent file from this site, but we will have to remove the DVD sales web page. If you are interested in purchasing either of these films for your school or university, please contact DER directly.

Successful Shoot!

Between December 2005 and January 2006 we spent one amazing week in Chharanagar, over the course of which we shot 110 hours of footage. In those tapes are interviews, footage of daily life, and (of course) theater! Things couldn’t have gone better, and we had a wonderful time.

Roxy is Blogging

Roxy Gagdekar, a journalist at one of Gujarat’s leading newspapers and a founding member of the Budhan Theatre now has his own blog about life in Chharanagar.

Screenings

Acting Like a Thief has been shown at the following film festivals:

• Ms. Films Festival in Durham, North Carolina. On Friday, February 23, 2006.
• Tri Contenental Film Festival in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, and Kolkata. January and February 2006.
• Amnesty International Film Festival. Asheville, NC. January 19-21, 2006.

Kurt Engfehr

We are very pleased to announce that Kurt Engfehr has agreed to be an advisor on the film. Kurt was co-producer and editor on both Bowling For Columbine and Fahrenheit 911. Not only did those two films win an Oscar and a Golden Palm, but Kurt’s editing work on Columbine also earned him the American Cinema Editors’ Eddie award. His support and advice means a lot to us. His critical eye will help us keep Hooch And Hamlet In Chharanagar clear, honest, and engaging.

We Are Making A Difference!

One of the goals of both the Budhan Theatre and our film is to create greater awareness about the situation of India’s De-notified Tribes, so we are very pleased at that Sonia Faleiro, a reporter from one of India’s top news publications, Tehelka, just spent four days in Chharangar and has written a wonderful article on the Budhan Theatre and the film. This was a direct result of downloading and seeing our short film, Acting Like A Thief.

There was also a piece about the film on the India Together website.

There has also been tremendous positive reaction to the film on the blogsphere, including this review by Lehigh University English Professor, Amardeep Singh.

And even a Chinese-language writeup of the film by Taiwanese blogger Zonble.

Thank you everyone for your generous support! We were able to successfully meet our goal of $15,000, which covered our production costs in India.

We will now need to raise money for post-production costs, which are considerably greater than those for production. We will seek external sources of funding, but your continued donations will help cover the cost of producing the promo package which we will need provide potential backers.

You can make tax-deductible donations online ($20 min.):

And please join our mailing list to receive the latest updates about the film.

Read on to learn about other ways to donate (PayPal and check):

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On May 11th, 2003 Dakxin Bajrange was arrested for allegedly assaulting Prahlad Chhara. The real reason? Performing plays critical of the police.

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In 1952, five years after independence, the Criminal Tribes Act of 1911 was finally repealed. Released from the forced labor camp which had been their prison for the past forty years, the Chhara were resettled on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, in Chharanagar. Roughly three square miles, with a population of over twenty thousand, Chharanagar is primarily known for its home brewed liquor - illegal in the dry state of Gujarat.

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Budhan Theatre was founded on 31st August 1998 in commemoration of the day when India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, lifted the stigma of criminality from the settled tribes in 1952. A population of some 60 million of these “denotified tribes” can be found throughout India today. Since 1998, Budhan Theatre has performed street plays to raise awareness about the condition of such tribes. Their goal is to demonstrate that Chharas are not “born criminals,” they are humans with real emotions, capacities, and aspirations. Each of their productions has dramatized the events surrounding custodial deaths, abductions, beatings and torture of such tribes throughout the country. At present Budhan Theatre is reaching out to other similarly stigmatized communities and including their stories in its repertoire.

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