SYNOPSIS
Meet Rubel, a fourteen-year-old boy smuggling rice from India to Bangladesh. He has to cross the river Ganga that acts as the international border. The same river eroded his home in mainland India when he was just four. Years later a fragile island called Char formed within the large river. With his family and a herd of homeless people, Rubel decided to settle in this barren expanse controlled by the border police from the two countries. Rubel dreams of going to his old school in India but reality forces him to smuggle goods to Bangladesh. After a scorching summer, dark monsoon clouds roll in and the river swells up again. We see the edges of the island cracking. “Char may disappear someday but we won’t”, smiles the boy.
Awards
Golden Kapok Award (Best Direction) | GZ DOC IFF, China, 2012
Best Documentary Award | ChopShots IFF, Indonesia, 2012
Special Mention | Dubai IFF, UAE, 2012
Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus) | National Film Award, India, 2012
Special Festival Mention - Jury | Bhopal IFF, India, 2013
Golden Reel Award (Best Documentary) | Tiburon IFF, USA, 2013
CAST & CREW
Sourav Sarangi
Director
Producer(s)
Sourav Sarangi
Script
Sourav Sarangi
Director of Photography
Sourav Sarangi
Sound
Sourav Sarangi, Shinichiro Ogata, Kyohei Taguchi
Edit
Sourav Sarangi
Cast
Rubel Mondal, Sofikul Sheikh
Production company(ies)
Son et Lumière Abhishek, 2nd Floor 8/1 Nibedita Sarani Garfa, Kolkata
Sourav Sarangi
Born 1964, Calcutta, India. After graduating from the Presidency College, Calcutta, Sarangi joined the Film and Television Institute of India with a specialization in editing. His debut film Tale of Tusu received accolades from many leading international film festivals. Since then he has been editing, writing, directing and producing in both fiction and nonfiction genres. He is also popular among student communities in various film schools as an articulate teacher. Currently he is involved in international co-productions as an independent producer and director. His recent award winning work is an international co-production documentary titled Bilal. The film travelled over 50 international festivals winning 17 top awards.
Filmography
The Tale of Tusu (1997, doc.), Thirst of God (1997, doc), Living in Fairytale (2004), Ashray (2005), Erosion (2006, doc.), Bilal (2008, doc), Char… the No-Man’s Island (2012, doc.).
