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Join us for the UK launch of award-winning documentary 'Spirit'.

Saraswati married into the village 20 years ago as the first educated daughter-in-law. Now, as she joins the euphoria of the Pandav Lila festival, she recalls her worries, loneliness, and ultimate sense of peace. 'Spirit' is presents an intimate portrait of longing and belonging in a remote region in the thralls of change.

The documentary was co-directed by local filmmaker Ross Harrison and Melbourne academic Jane Dyson, with location recording and sound design by Upcycled Sounds' Nicholas O'Brien. It won 'Best Sound'. 'Best Cinematography' and 'Best Editing' at the New York Shortie Film Festival.

Please join for the UK launch screening of our film at Upcycled Sounds' pop-up studio. Reserve your tickets here:

Jane Dyson (previously at the University of Oxford, now Melbourne) began working in a village high in the Indian Himalayas in 2003, when she spent 15 months living in a hut that she shared with a donkey, conducting research for her PhD in human geography. She worked alongside children and young people as they juggled school with their household labour, collecting firewood, herding cattle and blistering their hands weeding potatoes. She continued to work with the same young people as they've grown up. She first collaborated with Ross to make a film, Lifelines, in 2014, focussing on the rapid development in the village as well as the challenges faced by the generation witnessing them.

In 2018, Jane, Ross and Niko returned to the village to record what the social and cultural changes in the region mean for people's sense of belonging, physically, socially and spiritually. The extraordinary performances of the little known Pandav Lila festival which is unique to the region provides a powerful lens through which to tell these stories.

https://www.spiritdocumentary.com/

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51 Between Towns Road,

Oxford,

Oxfordshire,

England,

OX4 3LR.