Sama in the Forest
Key information
- Date
- Time
-
5:00 pm
- Venue
- SOAS, University of London
- Room
- MB G52
- Event type
- Film screening
About this event
Sama in the Forest is a hybrid, feminist and participatory documentary film focused on the power of women's storytelling in the Mithila region of South Asia (in Bihar, India, and crossing into the eastern Terai of Nepal).
In a creative collaboration with local community members in Madhubani, India, this the film highlights the tale of Sama, a young princess who wanders into the forest and befriends a young man, only to be slandered by a muckraking confidante of the king, and subsequently cursed and banished by her father, Lord Krishna.
The film, directed by Carlos Gomez and based on Coralynn Davis's (Bucknell University) extensive community-based research in the region, combines footage of women telling different versions of the tale, the making of elaborate narrative paintings, a dramatization of the story, a yearly festival that celebrates Sama, and in-depth conversations about the morals and meanings of this and other traditional tales.
The girls and women at the heart of the film are students and teachers at the Mithila Art Institute, a small school for young aspiring artists. Additional participants — community members of different genders, castes, and generations — help paint a complex picture of the social tensions evident in Mithila today.
Image credit: stillshot from the film 'Sama in the Forest'
