‘Once Upon a Village’ by Srishti Lakhera

India/ 61 min/Garhwali and Hindi with English subtitles/2021

Event details
Date: 18 December
Time: 19:30
Venue: Lumière, Geismar Landstraße 19, 37083 Göttingen
Director: Srishti Lakhera
Editor: Bhamati Sivapalan
Discussant: Antje Linkenbach (Universität Erfurt)

"Villagers have a saying that the dead come back to visit the living. Now those of us who remain have only these ghosts for company." Semla, is a ghost village in the Himalayan foothills.The 50 families that once lived in the village, have migrated to the city, leaving behind 7 people. With this migration, livelihood connected to the terrain and seasons have slowly faded. Like her village, Leela is old, resilient and forgotten. Despite loneliness and struggles with an aging body, Leela doesn't want to leave for the city. Golu is the only young person in the village. She is desperate to escape to the city but doesn't have the means. Dreaming for a different life, Golu roams around the abandoned village