‘Neeli Raag’ a film on Indigo production in India to be showcased at NFAI

India’s very own colour ‘Indigo’ has a history since Indus valley civilization and a 4000 years old tradition of production and dyeing.  ‘Indigo Roots,’ an organization active in the field of heritage to create awareness of the country’s rich cultural heritage through various activities, has organized a special screening of a film, ‘Neeli Raag’ (True Blue) first time in Pune on Sunday, 15 March 2020 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM at National Film Archive of India (NFAI).
Directed by Swati Dandekar, Neeli Raag, is an 85-minute documentary film on the making of indigo and the lives of those involved in the trade. The film is a reminder of this tradition of indigo dyeing in India and the laborious process embedded in the life of its artisans. Interwoven with the narratives of the indigo craftsmen, the film highlights many moods, textures and forms of the colour itself. Through the film, Dandekar has explored the ideas that how crafts has been traditionally handed down from one generation to the next.
The film will be also showcased at the Ethnografilm festival in Paris in April 2020 and has been premiered earlier at various film festivals in India and overseas.
Swati Dandekar heads the Film programme at the Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bengaluru. She is a documentary filmmaker and a film educator based in Bangalore, India, with a special interest in creating visual narratives of the living history around her; of people, places, ideas, traditions, practices, and the continuous process of change. Her past work is a series of essay films that explore the relationship between place, people, resources and the institutions that govern these. Her film “Water and a City” was widely screened in India and abroad and is part of the curriculum for courses in water management and development studies. In addition, she has been closely involved with designing media for education. As a founder trustee of Vikalp Bengaluru, she has been actively screening documentary films and curating festivals in Bangalore city for over fifteen years.