For nearly seven decades, the charm and wonder of the movies has comes to patrons in rural India atop a cinema truck. This annual celebration is the sole venue for them to absorb the magic of the big screen
The long reign of the travelling cinemas is now challenged by severe drought and diminishing audiences. Like Ants for Sugar unfolds as a visual journey, following the story of showmen and exhibitors striving to reinvent and sustain the vanishing world of the touring talkies.
The directors Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya are an Indian filmmaker and photographer respectively; their film is an inspiring story from one of the world’s last bastions of travelling cinemas. It brings to life the sheer beauty, lure and power of cinema that draws us all as its devoted audience.
Amit and Shirley were funded to travel from India to the UK to participate in the 2013 Sheffield Doc/Fest, providing the filmmakers with unprecedented access to the world’s documentary industry players, particularly through the pitching forum of MeetMarket, which Shirley said was like “a forcefield… it opened up the international market in front of us in all its diverse possibilities, and we discussed collaborations that will eventually take us towards completion of the film.”
See what the filmmakers had to say of their experiences of promoting their film and getting to the next step of production:
Like Ants for Sugar is currently in development
Awards
- Selection Viewfinder Asia workshop organised by Al Jazeera and Busan International Film Festival
- Best Project Docedge Kolkata, India 2013
- Special Jury Award Asian Side of the Doc, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2013
- Best International Projects Showcase Sunny Side of the Doc, La Rochelle, France 2013
- Selection MeetMarket, Sheffield Doc/Fest, UK 2013
Top and home page image: © Amit Madheshiya
