At the center of a half-century of tumultuous change, the lifetime of Mahasweta Devi has spanned the British period, Independence, and fifty years of postcolonial turmoil. A celebrated writer and tireless activist; Her most recent crusade has been on the behalf of the De-notified tribes of India – indigenous groups who were branded “natural criminals” by the British Colonial State, who face discrimination to this day, despite being “de-notified.”
Informal in style, this video explores how Mahasweta’s daily life and writing is a part of her life as a tireless worker for the rights of the aboriginal peoples of India.
Duration: 33 minutes
Year: 2001
Director: Shashwati Talukdar
Producer: Nandini Sikand
Screenings
Dallas South Asian Film Festival
Michigan State University, Social Justice and South Asian Imagery, Lansing, MI
Social Justice in the South Asian Imagination: Tribal Literature and Film, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Emerging Forms, University of Washington, Seattle
Georgetown University, Washington DC
Accolades
Post-production grant
Wexner Center for the Arts, 2000
Director Shashwati Talukdar’s website: www.shashwati.com