AMRITA SHER-GIL, AN INDIAN RHAPSODY

Synopsis:
For the indian people, Amrita Sher-Gil is a legend, a symbol. Born in Budapest in the early years of the Great War, this artist who was behind contemporary Indian painting died in the winter of 1941, at age 28. From Delhi to Bombay, and for all the artists of the Indian Diaspora throughout the world, she remains an emblem, a memory.

Her charisma, sometimes compared to that of the Mexican artist Frida Khalo, situated her at
the origins of Indian modernity. Like Nehru (one of her friends),Tagore and Satyiajit Ray,
she provided, in her field, the Indian sub-continent with a part of its modernity.

Shot in New Delhi, Bombay, Simla,Budapest and Paris, the film retraces her wide-ranging
life using her letters to friends and family.The film describes a commitment to painting
and a life in art as legendary as certain Indian movie stars,such as Smita Patil or Raj Kapoor.

Broadcast:
AQUI TV
YLE (Finn television)
DISCOVERY CHANNEL (India)

Festivals:
4th Women Film Festival (Bordeaux 2002)
International Art Film Festival (Montreal 2002)
FIPA (2003)
International Documentary Film Festival (Bombay 2004)

Press:
“ The intention was not to make a biography, but a film on how and why this woman was important and the influence she still has on artists today. It is indeed Cazals’ look at Amrita Sher-Gil in her time and in history, as an artist and more importantly, as a woman, that makes for a fascination film. ”

Sonali Velinker Mid-day Mumbaï

“ She has a road named after her in New Delhi.Her paintings are fond in the National Gallery of Modern Art. But how many of us know about her or her short life in which she explored the realms of contemporary art in the Indian context ? It required a French director, Patrick Cazals to make a very exciting documentary on her Amrita Sher-Gil ”

Deepa H Ramakrishnan The Hindu