Lipika Singh Darai’s documentary on last generation puppeteers to be screened at an international film festival

Bhubaneswar: Four-time national award-winning Odia filmmaker Lipika Singh Darai’s documentary on puppeteers is going to be screened at an art film festival in Italy this week.

Lipika, who has created a special place for herself in the Indian documentary film world, has again tried her best to give the lively touch to a dying art form and to immortalize the various forms of puppetry though her latest documentary film.

Her latest production, Backstage, which tries to capture the essence of four traditional puppetry such as the Rod Puppetry, the Shadow Puppetry, the Glove Puppetry and the String Puppetry, and tries to trace the lives of the last generation of puppeteers, will give you goosebumps.

The documentary is a mere attempt to establish her personal narrative, and portray the difficult times these art forms and its artists have been trading while trying to survive amidst the onslaught of modern art forms and other sources of entertainment. This film shows how these folk arts have been nurtured and carried forward by communities that have been socially and economically backward for ages. However, these art and artists are now vulnerable and on the verge of dying.

This 85-minute documentary will take you to various villages, communities and practice sessions that have been base for these art forms.

Lipika’s documentary is going to be screened at the prestigious and one of the oldest art film festivals of the world, the 39th Asolo Art Film Festival, Italy, that’s scheduled to be held from August 23 to 29. Her film will be screened on August 23.