Thursday, February 21, 2008
Sita goes to Berlin: Congratulations Nina
The buffet is very pleased to learn that Nina Paley's Sita Sings the Blues premiered at the Berlinale, the 58th International Berlin Film Festival last week. I totally fell for this unique project by independent animator when she screened it as a work in progress at last summer's Platform Animation Festival.
Sita Sings the Blues is an interpretation of the Ramayana, the famous Indian epic work of literature with fun cartoon style animation with intercutting segments set to torch and Tin Pan alley jazz songs performed by 1920s singer Annette Hanshaw along with sections where Indian expatriates recollect and discuss the meaning of the Ramayana and the fate of its heroine, Sita. Additionally, there are segments of more traditional exposition of the story. But the film is also framed with the story of Paley's own story of how she was dumped by her husband via e-mail, circumstances that led to her fascination and relationship with Sita's story in the Ramayana.
Somehow the incongruity of all these elements balance each other out in the mysterious ways of juxtaposition and art. I found the material she shared at Platform most delightful, as well as her DIY moxie that has, at last, turned her efforts into a completed work. The bright color palette and the style reminiscent of the 50s UPA animation also appeal to me greatly.
I wish Nina nothing but the best and hope that she will get a great distribution opportunity in the future and that an audience will discover the charms of her film as I did last summer. Perhaps maybe, Persepolis will pave a little bit of a path for that discovery?
Here is her trailer for Sita Sings the Blues and a Hanshaw vocal segment.
posted by well-executed buffet at 7:53 PM
Comments:
Post a Comment