Documentary film
Permanent link: https://n2t.net/ark:15056/ofdn-f-000007
“Quite a visual treat.”
“Refulgent colours of life.”
“Loving homage to family and culture.”
“Impending loss captured with tenderness and compassion.”
“Nani Ma brilliantly showcases the dialect through Masamoni Panigrahi’s sing-song poems, stories, bridal songs, and death songs. It’s quite the cultural showcase.”
“Though issues of language and culture are politically polarising, Panigrahi’s choice of human subject, his grandmother, seems more personal than political.”
“Nanima’s narrative creatively portrayed.”
“First-ever documentary film in the spoken tongue of northern region of Odisha—Baleswari.”
About the film
A 95-year-old grandma in a tiny eastern Indian town battles dementia, endangering the folklore and songs she remembers. None ever recorded those words that carry the agony of the 1866 Famine of Orissa for generations. Her last days are counted. She never got to sit on a plane. Will her words travel any far?
Nani Ma was selected for the Mozilla Festival 2023 (International Premiere), Lift-Off Filmmaker Sessions (UK), and was premiered at Bakul Foundation, Bhubaneswar (India).
Reviews and publications
- Film Carnage (by Rebecca Cherry)
- Film Threat (by Benjamin Franz)
- Orissa Post, “Nani Ma: A defence of diversity” (by Atri Prasad Rout)
- UK Film Reviews (by Swati Verma)
- ETV Bharat Odia (by Debasmita Rout)
For screenings, reviews, interviews and other queries, contact Subhashish Panigrahi.
Screenings
- May 2023: Bakul Foundation, Bhubaneswar (India)
- March 2023: Mozilla Festival
