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Festival Jean Rouch 2024: "Flickering Lights" wins the "Mondes en regards" prize
Prix Mondes en regards 2024
The Inalco jury has decided to award the Prix Mondes en regards to the Indian film Flickering Lights (Les lumières vacillantes) by Anupama Srinivasan and Anirban Dutta for its deep emotional impact and the richness of the subjects tackled on the common thread of the arrival of electricity.
The jury was particularly moved by the authenticity and depth of the characters. The film skilfully captures the complexity of individual and collective aspirations in a context of impending change. The photography and narration finely underscore the social and political issues facing the village. Flickering Lights thus proves to be a powerful work, offering a pertinent reflection on the meaning of progress and human resilience in the face of uncertainty.
The film will be screened at Inalco in the first half of the year 2024-2025.
Synopsis
Tora is a Naga village close to the Indo-Burmese border, neglected by the authorities because of its long history of resistance and lacking any basic infrastructure. Seventy years after India's independence, when the inhabitants of Tora learn that electricity is finally on its way, they are wary, having been disappointed too many times in the past. The wells are dug, the poles erected, but Khamrang, the patriarch, looks on skeptically. His real dream is the sovereignty of his people. Jasmine, a pragmatic woman, sees the arrival of electricity as an opportunity to buy a much-needed refrigerator for her children. Work progresses as best it can, and life oscillates between hope and frustration. Will electricity arrive in Tora? If so, will it bring the promised joy?
Special mention
The Inalco jury would like to award a special mention to the short film Waking up in silence by Daniel Asadi Faezi and Mila Zhluktenko (Ukraine) for its ability to offer a delicate vision of Ukrainian refugee children's discovery of the reality of war, while preserving their innocence.
Inalco 2024 jury members
Chanyueh Liu: ethnoscenologist, teacher of Taiwanese, Mandarin and performative cultures of East Asian societies at Inalco, and lecturer in Taiwanese history at Université Paris Cité.
Alejandra Rotondaro Ferreira: events and cultural project manager at Inalco.
Agathe Gauthier: student at Inalco in the third year of the LLCER Siamese and International Relations degree.