Paper short abstract:

A once unremarkable site of multi-faith pilgrimage to a Sufi Saint has been transformed and its local history rewritten - the film documents the journey of Charlotte, a student undertaking her PhD research in India, who, whilst researching religious pilgrimages, stumbles upon the politicisation of a pilgrimage site in western India. The research suggests that the pilgrimage site of Kalo Dungar or Black Mountain, situated in the Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, provides a micro-example of current political issues in India today, where by the ‘unity in diversity’ of the country is slowly being broken-down destroying any hope of communal peace. 84' film and 15’ director-led discussion

Paper long abstract:

There is little work undertaken visually on this specific subject and it is hoped that the film provides an innovative way of using the anthropological research methods of participant observation and unstructured interviews to provide a mosaic of visuals and interwoven interviews that provide a unique way of picturing and documenting the information provided through the long-term research process undertaken. This is put together using a heavily reflexive autobiographical voiceover that provides the context in which the research was undertaken that the film-maker believed necessary in order to be able to explain the context and place of the researcher within the process and importantly the historical and current political context within which the information generated could be placed.

84' film and 15’ director-led discussion