Peregrination
MOTTO: From human being to human compassionate GENRE:3-channel documentary observational video essay FORMAT: HD video, sound, colour ESTIMATED RUNNING TIME: 23 min In post-production |
SYNOPSIS
A visual diary of a trip to holy place in India where the story is told through the portraits of people living their tough daily lives. |
SYNOPSIS
A visual diary of a trip to holy place in India where the story is told through the portraits of people living their tough daily lives. PEREGRINATION project – a documentary observational video essay about a journey from Riga (Latvia) to a holy Shri Kedarnath temple located 3400 meters up in Indian Himalayas. Locations include cities and villages in Uttarakhand, India (Delhi, Haridwar, Kedarnath), and roads seen from local trains, buses and backs of the mules. People met during the journey from Delhi to Kedarnath are the real narrators of this non-narrative and observational video essay. The story is told through people portraits as we see them living their tough everyday life, which for Indians is imbibed with the divine. My idea was to keep a visual diary during the trip. I set off filming this project before the world was hit by a Covid-19 wave and experienced closure of borders between countries. Freedom of movement is one of the basic personal human rights as per Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and it is a priority for me. However, with all borders closed and all countries on quarantine, pandemic completely destroys the idea of an open and global world. Why is it so important? Will it be possible for people to explore other countries and cultures again, not on TV and YouTube, but to personally immerse oneselves in various traditions and cultures of our so different, but still the same world? The point is that travelling to other countries is part of the research and exploration of the world around us; it gives us the opportunity to become spiritually rich and spiritually open, to get rid of our assumptions and judgments, and as a result to become not just a human being but human compassionate. No matter how proud we are of our own culture, we must always remember that we are all somehow just little pieces of a bigger puzzle. VISUAL STYLE The footage for the project is shot in an observational mode, with zero aim to break in another culture or to force the scenes according to director’s intention. This style allows viewers to reach whatever conclusions they may come to. I didn’t have a goal to explore another culture; I tried to listen and to hear my own feelings and rather to document what was happening around me, without interference. Therefore I have chosen a maximum soft visual style, mostly static camera, no close-ups, only long minimalistic wide shots with sounds of city, nature and of human activities. It can be compared to an observation, without comments and music as that would distract us from the reality of the moment on the screen. This way the viewers could observe what was happening on the screen without straining their eyes, and rather try to turn to their own sensations. The images come together to form a slow rhythm to turn the watching experience into a kind of a visual meditation. |