Farmers' suicides can't be stopped by curing depression

ARCHING in the Dark, Kinshuk Surjan's moving and inspiring documentary on the widows of farmers who died by suicide in Maharashtra, won accolades in several film festivals across the world.

- NAMRATA JOSHI

While focused on one of the young widows, Sanjeevani, it's about a group of women discovering inner strength, resilience, laughter, and camaraderie in their shared loss and grief, getting healed in the company of each other. While challenging their patriarchal unit, the women also aim at achieving financial independence to ensure a brighter future for their children.

A film about empowerment through female solidarity, it is one of the four Indian titles eligible in the Best Documentary Feature category at the Oscars. The other three are Nishtha Jain's Farming the Revolution, Shubhan Dutta and Anupama Vasudev's Nocturnes and Anand Patwardhan's The World Is Family. A graphic designer turned filmmaker hailing from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, Kinshuk Surjan is the son of the late Lalit Surjan, editor-in-chief of a prominent news daily.

He spoke to CE about his long journey into researching and shooting the film, collaborating with voices like Sanjeevani and challenging the stereotypical portrayals often seen in contemporary films.

Excerpts

Have you closely seen the reality that you have captured in the film?