February 14, 2008
Lunchtime Viewing: "The Little Terrorist"Film
Via Chapati Mystery, a fifteen minute short film called “The Little Terrorist,” which was nominated for an Oscar for best short in 2005. If you have fifteen minutes, you can watch it here (the first 30 seconds or so are black; be patient):
The video appears to have been posted by the production company itself, so you can watch in good conscience. According to the film’s website, it was filmed on location in a rural village in Rajasthan on a shoe-string budget.
Also, you may want to go straight to Video.google.com to view it on a slightly larger screen (especially if you want to read the subtitles).
One minor question to consider might be: what dialect are the villagers speaking? Would we simply call it “Rajasthani”?
amardeep on February 14, 2008 10:41 AM in Film · T·r·a·c·k·b·a·c·k address · Direct link · Email post
I first saw this short film at a world movie screening at my University - very touching, and definitely merits a second viewing (as soon as I finish typing this).
The most common dialect in Rajasthan is Marwari, although the one in this short might probably be Bikaneri (just a guess), which is spoken in and around Bikaner (closer to the border).
I believe they are speaking Marwari. I know the young actress in the film, Megnaa Mehtta, and remember her mentioning learning to speak Marwari with the right accent while filming.
Thanks for putting that up. I will be sending it on to all my browns and some others too.
nice
That was moving. Thanks for sharing.
I just ordered the DVD.
Amardeep, this movie is roughly based on a true story, where a kid had crossed the border chasing his cricket ball.
Border crossing on western end is also very common, especially in Rajasthan by shepherds, itinerant workers, cows, sheep, and sometimes.............
Airtel has a similar ad being aired on Indian TV right now........set up in Kashmir
Very touching indeed. Wonder how come I never heard abt this film before.
Thanks for sharing Amardeep.
Whats the deal with the Chapatti and the plate. I ask out of ignorance
I got to see this movie when it premiered at the Montreal Film Festival in '04, and was quite excited about the opportunity. Frankly, though, I found it a little too preachy and obvious, and was disappointed. That said, it seemed like it wasn't a very good year for shorts at Montreal over all, at least the ones that were in competition. The director was there too, and his description of what he considered were the fun and exciting aspects of filming the story unfortunately left the audience flat.
In terms of feature length films, the one from that year that I really enjoyed was Kontroll, a Hungarian romantic thriller (for lack of a good description) about life as a subway operator, which I highly recommend.
ManKanwal @ 9
I believe the Indian family is Brahmin therefore won't eat the food touched by a non-Brahmin. I believe this is also the reason they break the dish that the little boy had touched.
I saw this film a while back on Link TV. Is it possible that the border police would arrest a little boy? I would think they would just return him to his village. The story is sweet but a little over the top.
I was almost hired to make a documentary of the making of this movie. Well when I say I was almost hired, I mean I wasn't, but the makers were very friendly about rejecting me! I was able to see the script and later the finished product. It was going to be an unpaid short stint as a 'behind the scenes'-doc maker in Rajasthan. Having seen what the experience was like for those that went, it looked like a great time. I've kept an eye out for how it's gotten on over the years and I'm pleased it's done well. Thanks for posting it up A.
Beautiful film and beautiful language...similar to Hindi and Punjabi yet very distinct.
...set up in Kashmir
The language is not Kashmiri, and the cars and decor does not look Kashmiri either. Also, no one plays soccer in Kashmir - at least they didnt in late 80s-early 90s. Methinks they are showing Palestine-Israel tiff here and the message obviously being very platform independent.
Methinks they are showing Palestine-Israel tiff here and the message obviously being very platform independent.
Sure, the message is platform independent, and they have made a collage from many conflicts in the ad, that could be any place. At first, I also thought it was referring to Palestine-Israel, and I discussed with an adman in India, and he believed allusion to Kashmir is very intended.
However,
Most Palestanians speak Arabic.
Most Israels speak Hebrew.
They speak one language in the ad.
Soccer is very popular among kids and youngsters in India.
Israel-Palestine demarcation is really not a fence, but a wall.
Mother in the background is wearing white traditional north Indian dress. But one can argue that dress could be from Middle East.
And, most importantly, Bharati Airtel is an Indian company, and their market is not Israel-Palestine.
It is possible they made a mish-mash ad so that no single conflict is really depicted in the ad, and avoid controversies.
Paranoid Android, I researched, that language spoken in Airtel ad is Hebrew, but they do want to imply that all conflicts can be solved by talking, including Kashmir (that is close to the heart of Indian consumer)
History behind airtel ad
this isn't posted by the production company...i posted it on video.google :)