In a corner of India, the short film allows its story to unfold one night. The documentary introduces the viewer to children who scavenge empty alcohol bottles to sell them for small amounts of money. While the children, by their own admission, go to school and learn poetry and languages, they also carry out this secret activity of theirs come nightfall. Through its quiet engagement with its young subjects, the documentary presents forth a narrative of poverty and how it robs children of their innocence and childhood.
The intention is noble and its realisation exhibits deep potential. However, the topic and thematic concerns it chooses to engage with are not entirely unique - poverty in a developing country. It is precisely for this reason that an important question is raised after interacting with the film - has it succeeded in capturing the social and cultural ethos of a society, despite or perhaps because of its microcosmic approach - the story of a few children in the corner of a massive nation, or has it fallen in the trap of indulging the specific manner in which the West often views its eastern counterparts? While this question is inherent to the core of What Are You Looking At?, it can and should only be answered by the viewer themselves.
Read LessThe intention is noble and its realisation exhibits deep potential. However, the topic and thematic concerns it chooses to engage with are not entirely unique - poverty in a developing country. It is precisely for this reason that an important question is raised after interacting with the film - has it succeeded in capturing the social and cultural ethos of a society, despite or perhaps because of its microcosmic approach - the story of a few children in the corner of a massive nation, or has it fallen in the trap of indulging the specific manner in which the West often views its eastern counterparts? While this question is inherent to the core of What Are You Looking At?, it can and should only be answered by the viewer themselves.
HAVE YOU MADE A FILM?
