Film Screening: Remembering Kurdi - A documentary by Saumyanand Sahi

Venue: ATREE Auditorium

Date/Time: 26/11/2018 at 3:30pm

About the film

Ever since the Salaulim Dam submerged the Kurdi census town in South Goa over three decades ago, 550 families have had to relocate and forge new lives elsewhere. 

However, every year the waters recede and the ruins resurface for a few short weeks before the rains. During this time, past inhabitants return to what is left of their homes, to perform rituals, have picnics and remember their dead. Gurucharan Kurdikar has vivid memories of his childhood in Kurdi – but now lives in a city far away. Venisha Fernandes was born after the submergence, but has grown up listening to stories of a lost paradise. Both return to search for where they belong – in places imagined and places real.

As Gurucharan and Venisha converse with a whole array of people, different aspects of the landscape and prior societal inter-relationships begin to emerge. The harsh memories of caste and feudal injustice are discussed with as much curiosity and fervor as personal stories of loss and longing. Yet while each community – be they Hindu, Christian, Muslim or the Gaonkar tribe – all tell of fractured histories, they share the fact of submergence just the same.

As Venisha and Guru join the members of each community to traverse the arid landscape into the depths of the Salaulim reservoir, they witness how gestures can bring to life trees and houses and rivers that are no more. They witness how the very act of remembering can also be an act of becoming part of the land.

Film duration: 1 hour and 04 minutes, followed by discussion with Gurucharan Kurdikar.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/170348198

This is a public event. All are welcome. Feel free to share this with friends, family and circles outside of ATREE. 

If you have any suggestions on which film should be screened next please write to us @ film.club@atree.org