A Looming Past (2010)
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A Looming Past is a documentary of the non-profit organisation Foundation to Aid Industrial Recovery (FAIR) India, which weaves together a multi-layered narrative of the lives of traditional coarse blanket weavers in a small southern Indian village in Karnataka State, Yaravarahalli.
Coarse blanket weaving is a traditional caste-based occupation that continues to be practised as it has been for centuries with almost no technological encroachment. This documentary not only shows the ancient process of blanket weaving but also subtly reveals the relationship between the weaver and shepherd as well as the weaver and trader. An ancient occupation that has withstood the onslaught of the Industrial Revolution and colonization now stands at the threshold of globalization and rapid economic growth of the Indian economy. The effect of these forces is already being felt in coarse blanket weaving with the abandonment of looms in several neighbouring villages.
Screened at Docubazaar (Slovenia), Forumdoc.bh.2010 (Brazil), 3rd ETNOFilm (Croatia), 12th Royal Anthropological Film Festival (UK), Days of Ethnographic Cinema (Russia), Association of Asian Studies Films Expo (USA).