Old Projects...

Several years ago, I wrote/directed a short film called My Narmada Travels, about indigenous people in India losing their land to a large dam. I was fresh out of graduate school when I got a grant from the Human Rights Center at UC-Berkeley to make this piece. Originally, I planned to do something small, like maybe a web-based piece, but when I told one of the producers at Frontline World, where I was working at the time, about it, she got excited, and told me to go for it, that it could potentially air on World. She even gave me a little more money for the film. This was a very tough piece to make. Looking back on it, I can't believe my husband and I packed it up and traveled to corners of the globe where people don't have power or running water. But we did it, then Frontline said they were interested, but never really bit. I ended up writing a story for The San Francisco Chronicle about the situation, and completing the film on my own. It screened in several festivals and even won a couple of awards, but I always felt bummed that it was never really broadcast anywhere, partly because it was so rough to make, and partly because I felt that the film covered an important topic. Recently, a good friend of mine, Robin, who did the music score, encouraged me to post it on the Current TV website for a contest... Though it didn't win the contest, the producers contacted me to air the piece on TV! I can't even explain how happy I was when I heard this. Looking back, that piece was tough not only because of where we had to travel to make it, but also because I did a lot of the work on my own. In other words, while writing and researching the story, I was also learning to use FCP, dealing with audio, graphics and more. On top of all that, I made all the travel arrangements to India, and set up all of the interviews. Now that I think about it, it's not surprising that around that time, I started having serious anxiety issues, and started having severe panic attacks twice a week--the first started while we were sleeping in mud huts in the village. Once we got home, I was super stressed, thousands of dollars in debt, then just plain depressed after my friend Robin blew up at me over a series of misunderstandings. Even now, prepping the film for broadcast brings up feelings of anxiety that I was having during that period. I've been so removed from the feeling, it's strange to feel everything all over again. It reminds me that for the next film I make, I really, really want to have lots of help!! In general, I am just happy that places like Current TV exist, and that they're showing the film.