Screening day!

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We attended the lectures in the morning with the Prasad students. The first one, by Uma ma'am, was about religion and the role it plays in society. It was a comfortable and meandering kind of lecture, more of a discussion. At the end, I didn't feel there had been much of a specific point, other than just to open lines of communication.

After a chai break, the second lecture, by professor and cinematographer Sunny Joseph, was about different kinds of space in cinematography. He showed some examples of films with these kinds of spaces, like deep space, ambiguous space, flat space, and limited space. I realize there is so much more to learn.

At lunch I had butterflies in my stomach because Jayshree was coming with Nandini, also in the film, and they were going to see what we had made of their interviews. I was particularly nervous that the film is supposed to build up to the climax where she says she doesn't have children, and she looks a bit like she's trying to keep up the mask, and I was worried she would not like being publicly displayed like that.

They showed up, I just about swallowed my heart, and it was clear that they were nervous too. Ours was the first to screen, and I can't believe how fast my heart was beating. I feel like having a screening is like having an autopsy while you're still alive.

Once it was over, they asked us to stand in front of the group. We each had to describe our experience, and this is pretty much the last thing I wanted to do, but it was probably something really important to do, as well. It's no good to run from things that terrify you.

Basically, in that moment, I felt a tremendous appreciation for everyone and everything that had conspired to let me come here to do this project. Traveling and working on difficult projects are two things that jumpstart a person's self growth, and the two together are pretty fantastic.

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