Produced by Mira Nair (Vanity Fair, Salaam Bombay) in association with the International Fund for Agricultural Development, STILL, THE CHILDREN ARE HERE is an exquisitely photographed portrait of an indigenous society that has maintained its culture in isolation from a rapidly urbanizing and westernizing India. But this intimate film not only describes an indigenous people and culture, but also speaks to the essential nature of man.
For many of the Garos of Meghalaya in North East India, cultivating rice is a way of life and worship. In the West Garo Hills, villagers still grow a diversity of ancient strains of hill rice in the same manner as humanity first did 6000 years ago. These strains are now highly valued by scientists studying sustainable agriculture and botanical genetics.
Of Tibetan-Burmese origin, the Garos' homes and just about all of their household goods have their origins in the lush bamboo forests that surround them. Their worries are both basic (having enough food and a roof over their heads) and universal (the women worry about whether their men are faithful and a couple mourns the loss of their child). Theirs is a society based on the natural order of things, but as the world changes around them, they begin to find this is no longer enough.
Shot over the course of an entire growing cycle, from the preparation of the fields to the harvest, STILL, THE CHILDREN ARE HERE is an elegant meditation on a way of life that to outsiders seems simple and peaceful, but is fraught with the same existential questions that plague us all.
"Highly Recommended! This exceptionally well-produced documentary provides an engrossing portrait of a… culture in transition. Produced in association with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), this is a beautifully photographed and edited field study. Excellent!"- Educational Media Reviews Online
" A beautiful film."- Newsday
"*** (3 Stars!)."- New York Post
"Intimate scenes create a clearer, deeper understanding of the difficulties of tradition and change."- FilmForward.com
"Beautfully shot... Remarkably cohesive... Portrays a rich way of life and how it's now threatened by agricultural development and outside market forces."- TV Guide.com
"[Lends] an elegant air to a classic documentary subject."- The New Yorker
"Invaluable and gorgeous."- New York Magazine
2005 Society for Visual Anthropology Film Festival
2005 Annual Conference on South Asia (University of Wisconsin)
2005 Association for Asian Studies Film Festival
2005 South Asian Human Rights Film Festival
2005 Newport Beach Film Festival
2004 Silver Award WInner, Broadcast Design Association
2004 Locarno International Film Festival
2004 Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival
2004 Woodstock Film Festival
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Produced by Mira Nair (Vanity Fair, Salaam Bombay) in association with the International Fund for Agricultural Development, STILL, THE CHILDREN ARE HERE is an exquisitely photographed portrait of an indigenous society that has maintained its culture in isolation from a rapidly urbanizing and westernizing India. But this intimate film not only describes an indigenous people and culture, but also speaks to the essential nature of man.
