FLINT, Michigan—A special screening of the documentary film “True Blue-Neeli Raag” — an ode to India’s once dying indigo trade, its history, its craftsmen, and its resurgence — is coming to the University of Michigan-Flint and will also include an opportunity to hear from the director herself.
The 84-minute film explores indigo as far more than a color and natural dye, delving into the artform and way of life that survived despite a century of near-extinction as it evolved from a symbol of wealth and mystique to one of tyranny and protest.
The film premiered at the MAMI Film Festival in Mumbai in October and also has appeared in the SiGNs Film Festival in Kerala and Craft-in Focus Film Festival in Amsterdam. It will be screened locally at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14 in the Kiva Auditorium, located inside the Harding Mott University Center on UM-Flint’s campus. The event is free and open to the public.
A discussion with Swati Dandekar follows the film. A documentary filmmaker based in Bangalore, India, Dandekar has a special interest in creating visual narratives of living history. She also teaches film at the Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology in Bangalore.
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