dear readers,
i got a letter from the government the other day, opened it and in it, it said they were suckaz. that’s a shout out to public enemy and tricky.
this is a post from bombay/what is independence day/to the u.s. of a. i don’t know. but when there are no words, there are images. there is graffiti on the wall at the film and television insitute of india, it reads: cinema is truth at 24 fps/frames per second.
graffiti mural at the film and tv institute of india in pune
the charter which decreed the creation of the national film archives and the film and tv institute of india was created in the early 1950′s, around the same time india gained independence from the british.
just off film institute road in pune lies the indian film archives
though the decree which planted the seed for the NFAI and FTII wasn’t followed until a decade later, in the early 1960′s, it remains true that india’s post-colonial political sovereignty was imagined in tandem with an explicitly strengthening embrace of our cinematic art, a distinct cultural legacy and continuing gift to the world.
the film and tv institute of india got mad buses peeking out from the banyan tree jungle of the campus acres, formerly the studio grounds of prabhat studios, one of india's most og film studios
here are some images from my independent eyes to yours via bustling bombay and nearly perfect pune. enjoy the ride, because it is yours, after all.
bombay taxi: shot on my way to the club out the vardala train station
proud to be a woman: buying bindi's in pune
the original kinkos: printing press at night with bicycles (pune)
projection booth: national film archive of india (pune)
prabhat studio door: film and tv institute of india (pune)
original prabhat studio lights: film and tv institute of india (pune)
bombay fam: me, my two cousin brothers, their wives and kids
stay tuned for more, which i will send out the next time i have a good internet connect.
love,
roopa
the political poet
these images of the film archives gave me chills – to be that close to the means of production… of our realities. echoed again by the printing press & bikes. beautiful, beautiful images to offset the patriarcho-patriotic hysteria that subsumed the US the past few days.
thanks always for the respite, and for the vision.
I just Loved these Pictures. Truly Indian Experience. Do you have more ?
i do actually, i can post on flickr and let you know, if interested.