The Cinema Travellers

Description

A moving homage to the mostly bygone era of celluloid, The Cinema Travellers captures the splendor of the moving image through India’s traveling movie caravans. Shot over five years, this intimate documentary takes the viewer on a cinematic journey with the undaunted technicians and the boisterous, overflowing crowd that await at each stop. The seeds for the film were planted by director Amit Madheshiya’s award-winning 2010 photography show of these mobile cinemas. That experience inspired Madheshiya and co-director Shirley Abraham to join the circuit with the Akshay Touring Talkies company. The result is an intimate and affectionate portrait of a quickly fading existence. Perhaps the greatest burden facing the perpetually nomadic crews is the round-the-clock maintenance required by the obstinate antique projectors that break down almost daily. Madheshiya and Abraham beautifully encapsulate the experience as the strained labor of raising a heavy tent gives way to the magic and chaos of rowdy crowds sitting on stones or straw, full of anticipation and wonder as the lights go out and the projector whirs. This is the miracle of cinema in its purest sense, as the mesmerized viewer leave his or her worries behind and surrenders to the story on screen. As a wizened old projector repairman of 45 years declares, “Life is not just a game of machines, but of the imagination.” —Gustavus Kundahl

Film Details