Yarwng (Roots)

2008. India. Written and directed by Father Joseph Pulinthanath. The brutal and bitter upheaval of tribal peoples in northeast India, their fertile riverside villages submerged by the construction of a hydroelectric dam in the 1970s, forms the backdrop to this unresolved love story between a young man and woman who are driven apart on the day they are meant to be married. Using nonprofessional actors (who relive their own traumatic experiences on screen) and depicting the landscape of Tripura, the tribal language of Kokborok, and a fascinating culture rarely captured on film and almost completely unknown even within India, Pulinthanath, a Catholic priest and a native of Kerala, creates an almost timeless fable about the clash of civilizations, and the forces of modernity that threaten to obliterate tribal life. North American premiere. In Kokborok; English subtitles. 90 min.