Loss, change, pain and grief are not easy emotions for an eight-year-old to comprehend. Akshay Indikar’s STHALPURAN (CHRONICLE OF SPACE) that premiered at Berlinale last year takes us deep into the soul of Dighu through his simple but unwittingly profound diary entries. His guileless words reveal an intense longing for his missing father and boundless loneliness and alienation in a new home that he hasn’t yet managed to settle down in. The stoic but uneasy quietude of his family is juxtaposed against the images of lush nature, especially water—fluid and drenching. 

STHALPURAN is cinema at its most tactile. With his meditative frames and immersive sound design, Indikar makes us feel one with the turmoil of his young protagonist. STHALPURAN might be about the growing up of Dighu through the many vicissitudes but becomes a spiritual quest for the audience to understand the dichotomy between the transient and the eternal that underlines life itself.

This film is presented by long-time IFFLA alum Anurag Kashyap (Sacred Games, Gangs of Wasseypur), who will join director Akshay Indikar in a Q&A discussion, putting together an exciting up and coming independent filmmaker with one of the most celebrated independent filmmakers of our generation.

DIRECTOR

Born in Solapur and brought up in a small town called Akluj, Akshay Indikar completed his education in Pune. His first docu-fiction film was UDAHARNARTH NEMADE. His debut feature film was TRIJYA (RADIUS). His second feature film STHALPURAN (CHRONICLE OF SPACE) premiered at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival.