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Seriously, I could use the publicity. What would happen if thousands of people signed this petition? Has a movie ever been banned from the Internet before? I want to see how it’s done. You can leave a message with your signature. They only have 367 so far – do your part, people.  Thanks, Cousin Phil! By popular demand. Click on a thumbnail to see the image. Comments welcome.
How many independent animators get a Bangok high fashion line named after their film? None, unless they let people share:
M Jan 26 M Jan 26 Dear Ms. Paley, I had the pleasure of watching a showing of “Sita Sings the Blues” at the Denver Film Festival this past weekend. I was thrilled by the insightful, witty, and often times hilarious telling of Sita’s story. I am a first generation Indian woman, and I was equal parts intrigued and wary about “Sita Sings the Blues” when I first heard about it. I was intrigued because Sita’s part in the Ramayana has always bothered me and I was curious to see how her story would be told from a modern feminist perspective. I was wary because, as an Indian-American, I have seen aspects of the Indian culture mutated and exploited in ways that are, frankly, offensive. “Sita Sings the Blues” exceeded all of my expectations and I came away from the showing very satisfied. My personal favorite part of the feature was the commentary about the Ramayana by the three puppets. I felt a strange sense of deja vu, as I am certain I have had many of the conversations before with my parents and siblings. From the apparent incongruity of Sita throwing jewels when she was supposedly in her Sanyasi clothing, to ruminating on exactly what happened when and what is the pronunciation for that demon’s name! Every part of the story spoke to me. It was apparent that you had extensively researched the Ramayana in the making of this film. Thank you for giving Sita her much needed voice to sing the blues. I have to admit, the only part of the movie experience that was annoying to me was trying to articulate to my friends the reasons why I enjoyed the film so much. The experience was visceral for me, and it almost defies an intellectual, oral explanation. I was saddened to hear that this film would not be released for widespread circulation or for DVD release. This is a story that I would have liked to share with my family and friends and make a part of my lexicon of Hindu mythology. If there is anything that I can do to enable this film to be widely circulated, please let me know. I would be more than happy to write letters, start petitions, etc. I don’t know enough about the film industry to intuit what needs to be done, but I’ll take whatever suggestions you care to give. Again, a big, capital THANK YOU for making this film. It is brilliant. –Sima Patel Salil Tripathi wrote an informative, well-informed article about whether Sita Sings the Blues can avoid being banned in India. It’s in the Far-Eastern Economic Review, and to read the whole thing you have to subscribe ($120 yikes!), but if you’re already a subscriber do check it out. Sita collaborator Pooja Kumar (Surphanaka) points our attention to a good ol’-fashioned Ram Leela at Lincoln Center in New York. This is a much more traditional presentation of the story of Rama (it’s “a victory of good over evil”) in contrast to my very personal, unconventional spin in Sita Sings the Blues. Here are some commercials from youtube: The Ram Leela is Saturday, October 4 at 3:30 pm at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center. That same day, other Sita collaborator Aseem Chhabra (Shadow Puppet #1) hosts South Asian Writers Speak Out for Obama, a fundraiser featuring Salman Rushdie, Jhumpa Lahiri, Kiran Desai, Suketu Mehta, Manil Suri, and Akhil Sharma, with filmmaker Mira Nair as emcee and jazz music provided by the AZA Jazz Collective.
Yep I’ll be there, along with the awesome and delectable Reena Shah, a Livingston native. This event was instigated by Anju Bhargava, who has written extensively on Sita:
This will be the first screening I attend equipped with the long-awaited “limited edition festival screener” DVDs, which of course I can’t legally sell, but I’ll have a box of ’em for all you “movie reviewers.” And of course you can legally donate to the artist, who is currently homeless, broke and in debt. Another round of articles about Sita Sings the Blues:
Apparently an American distributor rejected Sita Sings the Blues because, culturally, “it only relates to a tiny slice of the world.”
Berliners and other pastries can catch one (and only one!) screening of Sita Sings the Blues this April 24 9:15pm at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (House of World Cultures) immediately following the premiere of “play/dance/music/video/project” The Abduction of Sita by Joachim Schloemer. Continue reading Sita in Berlin (again!) this April 24
Praise be to Laxmi! Laxmi is both the eternal form of Sita and the Goddess of Wealth. I never really thought about her wealth aspect until now. Because my mind is so blown by the donations coming in for the 35mm master of Sita Sings the Blues. Folks, you are kind and generous beyond my dreams. So far over $13,000 have come in. Some is from people I know in real life, but most is from people I’ve never met, mere electronic impulses from other synapses in this great hive-mind we call the Internet. I’m sitting here in awe and disbelief. I’m so grateful, so touched, so dazzled my little pea-brain can’t quite handle it. So it’s time for me to envision this as divine and offer thanks. I thank all of you, I thank the Internets, I thank the Universe, I thank Laxmi. The lab making the 35mm print master of Sita Sings the Blues has been delayed receiving the requisite film stock, due to a delivery error. That means they can’t print the final reel – with the credits – until Monday. And that means I don’t have to render the credits until Sunday. Which means anyone who wants their name in the credits still has until 10pm Sunday January 27 to make a donation! All donors will be thanked in the credits, but donors of $1K or more get a credit of their choice (Key Grip, Caterer, etc.) in a larger font. |
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