Ek Tha Gaon
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SYNOPSIS
'Villagers have a saying that the dead come back to visit the living. Now those of us who remain have only these ghosts for company.'
Semla, is a ghost village in the Himalayan foothills.The 50 families that once lived in the village, have migrated to the city, leaving behind 7 people. With this migration, livelihood connected to the terrain and seasons have slowly faded.
Like her village, Leela is old, resilient and forgotten. Despite loneliness and struggles with an aging body, Leela doesn’t want to leave for the city. Golu is the only young person in the village. She is desperate to escape to the city but doesn’t have the means. Dreaming for a different life, Golu roams around the abandoned village.
As the film progresses, the two women face the invisible but palpable forces of migration. Their emotional journey changes their relationship with the place they call “Home”. In this fragile existence, ‘Ek ThaGaon’ explores life in a dying village where a haunting absence lingers.
'Villagers have a saying that the dead come back to visit the living. Now those of us who remain have only these ghosts for company.'
Semla, is a ghost village in the Himalayan foothills.The 50 families that once lived in the village, have migrated to the city, leaving behind 7 people. With this migration, livelihood connected to the terrain and seasons have slowly faded.
Like her village, Leela is old, resilient and forgotten. Despite loneliness and struggles with an aging body, Leela doesn’t want to leave for the city. Golu is the only young person in the village. She is desperate to escape to the city but doesn’t have the means. Dreaming for a different life, Golu roams around the abandoned village.
As the film progresses, the two women face the invisible but palpable forces of migration. Their emotional journey changes their relationship with the place they call “Home”. In this fragile existence, ‘Ek ThaGaon’ explores life in a dying village where a haunting absence lingers.
SHRISTI LAKHERA (director / producer) has recently Directed her first feature documentary Ek Tha Gaon/Once Upon a Village, which has won many awards at film festivals. Her now decade-long career as a filmmaker and a media trainer has seen many accolades. She has produced films for international organizations, Government bodies, national television and international television. Srishti has been associated with grassroots organizations across India to conduct Filmmaking workshops for communities.
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BHAMATI SIVAPALAN (editor / producer) is an independent film practitioner and editor with wide-ranging work in the documentary form. Her practice meditates on stories of displacement, resettlement and the inheritance of imagined worlds formed in the course of such movement. She is motivated to create works that endure as poetic witnesses. In recent years she has been working on documentaries for OTT platforms.
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