Directed by Ramchandra P. N. Starring Saumesh Bangera Edited by Ramchandra P. N. | Screenplay by Sudipto Mondal Cinematography Ramchandra P. N. | |
Release date 12 November 2016 (KIFF) | ||
The Unbearable Being of Lightness is a 45 minutes documentary film made in 2016 directed by Ramchandra PN. The documentary documents a workshop that the filmmaker had conducted for a group of students at the University of Hyderabad, immediately after the student protests on the issue of the suicide of Rohith Vemula had ended at the University.
Contents
Plot
The film maker sets off to Hyderabad after student boycott of classes has ended at the University of Hyderabad. As a part of a documentary film making workshop, the participants have to visit, observe, write and film at a crowded place within the campus called Shopcom, where students hang around after classes. It is also the epicenter of the protests on the Rohith Vemula issue. As the participants read out what they have observed, they can't but bring out the issue of their deceased colleague and the sadness and bitterness associated with it. A group of singers at Shopcom sing a protest song that was written in a different context by Faiz Ahmad Faiz, an actor in Mangalore, Saumesh Bangera, reads out the last letter of Rohith Vemula, his suicide note. and on blank screen, portions of the article written by journalist Sudipto Mondal named 'Rohith Vemula, an unfinished portrait' are read out.
The film looks at the three generations of the Vemula family and deals with how over the centuries we have been looking at the issue of Dalits.
Production
When Rohith Vemula hanged himself in a hostel room on 17 January 2016, the immediate cause and the events leading up to the death came into sharp focus and got national wide attention. This documentary film seeks to supplement this aspect. Ramchandra decided not to use video recorded by the students during the workshop or amateur footage shot by protestors, to avoid producing a workshop film or a protest film, and instead to strike a reflective tone, representing various points of view.
Release
The film was premiered on the 12 November 2016 at the Kolkata International Film Festival.