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Film: "Water" - Fri., June 6, 2008
"Water" (2005, India/Canada, directed by Deepa Mehta, 117 min.) Refreshments are served at 7:30 p.m., the film begins at 8 p.m. Donations are appreciated. The series is hosted by the United Nations Association of Davis. Set in 1938, this drama deals with the tradition in fundamentalist Hindu society that when a woman is widowed, she has three options: throw herself on her husband’s funeral pyre, marry his brother or live in poverty in a group home for widows. Although she is only eight, Chuyia (Sarala) is forced into the third option.
Her high energy and curious mind contrast with the older women in
the ashram who are resigned to their fate of being considered
worthless. Scenes of Gandhi proclaiming his message of freedom
and one of his followers (John Abraham) falling in love with Kalyani
(Lisa Ray), Chuyia’s closest friend, are indicative of eventual
changes. The director was forced to stop filming in India, due to
violent protests; she resumed filming years later in Sri Lanka.
Sarala had never acted before and did not know Hindi. With Seema
Biswas and Manorama.