I the
director made this film in a period of two years, while I worked in Nepal as a
volunteer with VSO. Before that, I spent about a whole year researching on the
subject of inter-caste relationships and contentious marriages. When I started
thinking of making a documentary about illicit love, I thought of going to a
fundamentalist Muslim country, where honor killings are common if a woman
marries for love against her father’s wishes. However, I discovered that the
plight of women in Muslim countries already has the attention of the
international community, mostly because of the 9/11 catastrophe. Yet, the more
numerous Hindu women have suffered in silence for thousands of years, and the
Western powers pay a deaf ear to their pleas because they do not view Hinduism
as a threat to their interests.
At
first, I wanted to go to India. I applied to Volunteer Services Overseas, but
rarely do they grant you a request to work in a country of your wish. Since I
had shown interest in South Asia, I was offered a placement in Bangladesh and
Nepal. I chose Nepal, which until 2008 was a Hindu kingdom.
While
in Nepal, I worked with the oldest dalit organization, Nepal National Dalit
Social Welfare Organization, whose aim is to uplift the rights and standards of
living of untouchables. I lived in a rural area in the Far Western district of Nepal,
Kailali, in Danghadi town, and this kind of environment enabled me to research
on the cultures as a participant observer. Most of the crimes against
inter-caste couples happen in the rural areas, where the caste system is
followed strictly, and being in close contact with inter-caste couples gave me
an insider’s view of their experiences. It did help a lot that I managed to
master the Nepali language within two months of arriving in Kailali.
Once
I had my story ready, the problem of financing the project presented itself. I
knew I had to make it before my contract with VSO ends, otherwise I would not
have found another chance. But VSO had a small grants program, funded by the
European Commission, and this then gave me access to funds to pay for the basic
costs of filming the characters.
Technical Information
Original Title: Untouchable
Love
Director: Dilman
Dila
Original Language: Nepali, Hindi, Maithili, English
Subtitles: English
Duration: Approx. 90 minutes
Genre: Documentary
Country of Production: Nepal
Year of Production: 2011
Audio: Stereo
Shooting Format: DVCam, PAL, 16:9, Color
Exhibition Format: MiniDV, HDCam, DigiBeta, BetaCam
Categories:
