Bant Singh is a lower caste Mazhabi, Dalit Sikh farmer and singer from the Jhabhar village in the Mansa district (Punjab, India), who has become an agricultural labour activist, fighting against the power of the local landowner. Described by Amit Sengupta as “an icon of Dalit resistance”* he has been active in organizing poor, agricultural workers, activism that continues despite a 2006 attack that cost him “both of his lower arms and his left leg.”*
“Bant Singh – Word Sound & Power” is a short film attempting to showcase Singh’s songs of rebellion, inter-cast conflict and violence.
Word, Sound & Power or The Bant Singh project wants to spread Singh’s social critical message to the masses using dancehall, dubstep, ragga and poetry, produced by Chris McGuinness in collaboration with dancehall artist Delhi Sultanate.
Thus we see, activism, music and documentary collide in this 12 minute piece.
Where my friend, the maniac, busies himself with his electronic graffiti,
Finally his language touches me,
Because he talks to that part of us which insists on drawing profiles on prison walls,
In that moment, poetry will be made by everyone,
And there will be emu’s in the zone.”
I woke up with these words echoing through my head. A sound clip that is usedby Kasabian at the beginning of their song ‘West Ryder Silver Bullet’.
It haunted me so that I climbed down opened my laptop and went on a search. Resulting in my trusted – corporate – friend Google answering: Sans Soleil(1983) by Chris Marker. A experimental documentary almost Eliot-esque.
I’d like to introduce you all to a real man. One who prefers whiskey, has tattoos and isn’t scarred of an amplifier. His name is Hanni El Khatib. I first noticed him with his EP, Bullfighter’s hart(2008), and most particularly with the song ‘I know it’s Bad for me’. As it paralleled particular actions and situations I happened to find myself in. Wild drunk nights in which you end up hanging out in a joyous melancholia with a collection of people you don’t really know and don’t really care about.
Last Sunday Night – February 5th – I defied the snow and traveled to Rotterdam to see him play at Rotown.
On this Sunday Morning Short, a taste of Hanni El Khatib and Alaska, in ‘Grizzlies, Pickles & Whiskey’
“Somewhere between documentary and music video…” that’s the way Norwegian filmmaker Emil Trier describes his project with Trogny. Which consists of three short films – ‘The Only Game’, ‘Big Day’ and ‘I Came Here’ - that depict life of the youth in Norway.
The first one is on the realm of youth in rural Norway. Out from the wheelie caused smoke and stale smell of Bacardi rises a picture that seems to correspond to … [continue]
Nick Waterhouse isn’t hung up on any specific neighborhood but it is most definitely in or around South of Market, San Francisco. As Waterhouse stated San Francisco was the place that “just made sense”. There was something in the air. However it couldn’t be pinned down to something/someplace specific [continue]
Bant Singh is a lower caste Mazhabi, Dalit Sikh farmer and singer from the Jhabhar village in the Mansa district (Punjab, India), who has become an agricultural labour activist, fighting against the power of the local landowner. Described by Amit Sengupta as “an icon of Dalit resistance”* he has been active in organizing poor, agricultural workers, activism that continues despite a 2006 attack that cost him “both of his lower arms and his left leg.”*
“Bant Singh – Word Sound & Power” is a short film attempting to showcase Singh’s songs of rebellion, inter-cast conflict and violence.
Word, Sound & Power or The Bant Singh project wants to spread Singh’s social critical message to the masses using dancehall, dubstep, ragga and poetry, produced by Chris McGuinness in collaboration with dancehall artist Delhi Sultanate.
Thus we see, activism, music and documentary collide in this 12 minute piece.
Nick Waterhouse isn’t hung up on any specific neighborhood but it is most definitely in or around South of Market, San Francisco. As Waterhouse stated San Francisco was the place that “just made sense”. There was something in the air. However it couldn’t be pinned down to something/someplace specific [continue]
Where my friend, the maniac, busies himself with his electronic graffiti,
Finally his language touches me,
Because he talks to that part of us which insists on drawing profiles on prison walls,
In that moment, poetry will be made by everyone,
And there will be emu’s in the zone.”
I woke up with these words echoing through my head. A sound clip that is usedby Kasabian at the beginning of their song ‘West Ryder Silver Bullet’.
It haunted me so that I climbed down opened my laptop and went on a search. Resulting in my trusted – corporate – friend Google answering: Sans Soleil(1983) by Chris Marker. A experimental documentary almost Eliot-esque.
I’d like to introduce you all to a real man. One who prefers whiskey, has tattoos and isn’t scarred of an amplifier. His name is Hanni El Khatib. I first noticed him with his EP, Bullfighter’s hart(2008), and most particularly with the song ‘I know it’s Bad for me’. As it paralleled particular actions and situations I happened to find myself in. Wild drunk nights in which you end up hanging out in a joyous melancholia with a collection of people you don’t really know and don’t really care about.
Last Sunday Night – February 5th – I defied the snow and traveled to Rotterdam to see him play at Rotown.
On this Sunday Morning Short, a taste of Hanni El Khatib and Alaska, in ‘Grizzlies, Pickles & Whiskey’
“Somewhere between documentary and music video…” that’s the way Norwegian filmmaker Emil Trier describes his project with Trogny. Which consists of three short films – ‘The Only Game’, ‘Big Day’ and ‘I Came Here’ - that depict life of the youth in Norway.
The first one is on the realm of youth in rural Norway. Out from the wheelie caused smoke and stale smell of Bacardi rises a picture that seems to correspond to … [continue]
has become an agricultural labour activist, fighting against the power of the local landowner. Described by Amit Sengupta as “an icon of Dalit resistance”* he has been active in organizing poor, agricultural workers, activism that continues despite a 2006 attack that cost him “both of his lower arms and his left leg.”*
