FILM

AUTO MERI JAAN (AUTO, MY LOVE!): A FILM ON THREE WHEELS [52 mins]

Written, Directed, Shot and Cut by Soumyadeep Paul
Co-editor: Laura Taflinger
Producer & Co-director: Poorva Joshipura

January 15th, 2005, Mumbai, India – the residents of Hiranandani Complex witnessed a race unlike any other – the formula one for Rickshaws. Organized for the Mumbai festival, the race, first of its kind around the world, attracted hundreds of rickshaw drivers who wanted a shot at the prize money, and the fame. “I want to participate because it is fun and my chance to move ahead in life, and be known” says one competitor. “They think they are the Michael Schumachers of the roads… with their goddam Ferraris” claims an angry local.

Adorned with posters of local filmstars, blasting loud Punjabi music through their stereophonic speakers, and steering, honking their way through the potholes and traffic jams, from Albert Tolman, the American blacksmith who designed the first rickshaw, to crowded rickshaws of Mumbai, this documentary tries to dive into the crazy world of auto-rickshaws and their drivers, and bring out their joys and frustrations, their music and their daily struggle for bread, and their fights against a largely chaotic system.

ELEPHANTASMA / PHILOSOPHY OF DOGS:

Written, Directed, Shot and Edited by Matti Pohjonen and Tatu Laukkanen
Produced by: Negativewarmachine Media

Completed in the end of 2006, Elephantasma is an experimental documentary that looks at Indian economic growth from a series of unorthdox angles: from the production of urban space to self-help books to street dogs. It was made in collaboration with Negativewarmachine Media, one of the affiliates we work with.  In its rather short lifespan, it has already managed to get censored from one seminar on Indian economic growth and has been shown across universities and festivals in Finland and abroad. PHILOSOPHY OF DOGS is a stand-alone short film that emerged out of the Elephantasma experiment that looks at the life and philosophy of street dogs in Bombay, India — a newly-edited version of this will be finished shortly to be shown around short film festivals.  You can see a preview of this HERE.

OF MOBILES AND FIREWOOD …

Directed by Matti Pohjonen and Breach Candy Group
Producer: Negativewarmachine Media

(in its scripting / prototyping phase)

Of Mobiles and Firewood is an an experimental documentary and research project about Ethiopia that looks at the complex issue of poverty, technology, global politics and environmental degradation from the perspective of small technological objects such as mobile phones. Its broader vision is inspired by the question of how we can understand the complex changes and challenges the world faces without necessarily resorting to absract macro-level ideologies such as global environmental politics or development aid theories. Rather, it aims to illustrate, both visually and thematically, the hidden significance of small objects in everyday actions that, we believe, trigger major changes often hidden from the view of the academician or the policy-maker. The two objects that we focus on — the mobile phone and the humble piece of wood — are thus symbolic of the wider issues that poor countries in the world such as Ethiopia face today that the documentary/research project will focus on.  By looking at the smallest of objects, we believe, will allow us to illustrate the largest of issues by making them understandable in visually experimental and innovative ways. These objects and the people who use them can then be juxtaposed to wider political history of Ethiopia and its turbulent history – what we like to call “narratives from our pockets.” The project is currently in its scripting phase and will eventually include a tactical media element and a broader research project around the various experimental uses of mobile phones in countries such as Ethiopia.