#TG Life
It’s a village that now lives only in the memories of those who dwelled there for generations. As development sometimes takes toll of the local lives and livelihoods, especially when mega projects like dams are constructed on the river banks, the catchment area goes underwater and settlements are displaced. The lives of the people who are uprooted from their ancestral land and are forced to dislocate and disconnect from their roots, tend to become nightmares, sometimes, or most of the times.
It is this displacement of the people of Kurdi, a village that was wiped out ever since the Salaulim dam submerged it some three decades ago, relocating 550 families that once lived here, that has been depicted in Saumyananda Sahi’s film, ‘Remembering Kurdi’ which will be screened at Museum of Goa on July 14 between 11.30 am to 12.30 pm.
As we know, the people of Kurdi are now inhabitants of the world; some settled elsewhere in Goa, others have opted for places of their choice across the globe. However, one thing binds them all - their bond to the land they once lived and cherished. Every year, as the waters recede and the ruins of Kurdi resurface for a few weeks before the rains, people of Kurdi return. Their memories compel them to return to witness the devastation of their lost township and to behold what is left of their submerged homes. During this time, past inhabitants return to perform rituals, have picnics and remember their dead.
The talented director Saumyananda Sahi has done commendable job through this film. Saumyananda who has founded Skreen Films with his wife, Tanushree Das Sahi, is currently based in Goa. While for the most part working as a cinematographer, Saumyananda has directed two documentaries, and has been credited as an editor as well as art director. He also writes on cinema, and teaches. A graduate from St Stephens College, Delhi, with a distinction in Philosophy, he studied film cinematography in the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune.
Bengaluru born Saumyananda was the youngest participant in the Talent Campus India (2004), and the Berlinale Talent Campus at the Berlin International Film Festival (2005). For the past one decade he has worked on both, documentaries as well as fiction features with directors such as Thomas F. Lennon, Kamal Swaroop, Arun Karthick, Anamika Haskar and Anne Aghion. His work has been screened in film festivals around the world, including at Sundance, Rotterdam, Locarno, Hot Docs and IDFA.
