A short documentary, in and around a brickfield, featuring stories of a 35-year-old brick kiln worker and an 11-year-old coachman.
Ongoing Theme: Shared Humanity
In today’s selection, we enter into a new sensory experience. It’s a setting we have often seen only from a distance so it looks vaguely familiar. Silhouettes of men, women and children, working under a scorching sun, visible from the corner of our eyes while we travel on national highways. This film takes us closer to them and fills out the silhouettes with real faces and voices.
‘A day in the life: BRICKFIELD’ goes beyond just showing us a day in the life of a brick maker. The film is a combination of portraiture and observation. It is a black-and-white tapestry that weaves together evocative, melancholic and rhythmic threads. The two characters, Pappu and Shiva, are forthcoming yet their stories seem to hide more than they reveal. The mystery continues in the rich visual canvas, patiently crafted with a photographer’s eye. The upbeat music pieces that bookend the film help lift it out of what can feel like a gloomy fog.
Documentary as a storytelling mode is based on the values of shared humanity. I believe that it’s higher purpose is to form a connection – between the character, the filmmaker and the audience. This connection is forged when the characters shed their armour to share their real stories and the filmmaker respects this sacred act of sharing stories.
If you see a brick kiln with smoke billowing out and it reminds you of Pappu or Shiva, then the connection has been formed. This film has done its job.
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Surbhi Dewan, Curator at ViewFinder, Saachibaat.com |
