Like Ants for Sugar has received development support from the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program.
The Sundance Fall 2013 round accepted nearly 750 applications worldwide from filmmakers working in 93 countries who submitted work of great artistry and humanity. Selected grantees include original voices from in-country artists from Bangladesh, South Korea, India, Vietnam, Syria, Uruguay, and People’s Republic of China. In funding a broad spectrum of innovative and creative non-fiction storytelling from around the world, Sundance Institute embraces documentary film as a vital contributor to the language of the 21st century.
The directors of Like Ants for Sugar, 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. For nearly seven decades, the charm and wonder of the movies has come 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.
See what the filmmakers had to say of their experiences of promoting their film and getting to the next step of production:
Submission deadlines for the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program are in February and July each year.