Notes on Man Capture
To capture a man, then immediately marry him, you need a chicken
Single mothers also qualify for man capture
It is a truth (not widely accepted) that to capture a man, then immediately marry him, you need a chicken.
But not because the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.
The Garo Hills. An extension of the eastern Himalayas. When the cotton is in full bloom, it is the season for man capture. Men from one village capture men from another for marriage to their unmarried sisters, cousins and nieces. If a man accepts the marriage, he moves into the village of his wife and shares her property.
And if he doesn’t?
Ratmi, a young, single mother wants to get married. The film follows the process of capturing a man for her as it observes the players behind Ratmi’s marriage in 2000/2001 and again in 2006.As we follow Ratmi’s story, some questions emerge for us. What doesIndia look like as it is in some types of unseen fringes, where power shifts back and forth from individual to group, man to woman, the person behind the camera and the people in front of it? This film about the India that we don’t see, reverses some of the dominant images we see all the time about caste, gender and difference.
Produced by Chitra Katha Productions
Directed by Nandini Bedi
Distributed within South Asia by Under Construction, Delhi (UCL Films)
Distributed outside South Asia by Chitra Katha Productions
43 mins. Garo with English subtitles
A captured man may run away never to return.
Life in the margins
Screenings
De Balie Amsterdam – November 2008 – Followed by a discussion
The International Ethnographic Film festival of Delhi – November 2008 – Followed by a discussion
The 10th Madurai International Docu. abd short Film festival – December 2008
Bangalore Film Society screening – January 2009
The India Institute, Amsterdam January 2009 – Followed by a discussion
The Kolkotha International Documentary Film Festival- January 2009 ( KIDFF)
The Himalaya Film festival – Amstelveen – February -2009 – Followed by a discussion
The 5th Asian Womens’ Film Festival, Delhi – March 2009
Persistence Resistence Film Festival – Delhi – April 2009
LOVA Film Festival – Leiden May 2009- Followed by a discussion
The 2cd International Docu. and short Film Festival of Kerala – June – 2009
The 3rd Womens’ International Womens’ Film Festival, Chennai – March 2010
VIKALP@Alliance Screenings, Mumbai – April, 2009
The NID short film festival, Ahmedabad – January 2010
The Kaala ghoda Arts Festival, Mumbai – 2010
The Asian Womens’ Film Festival, Trivandrum – March 2010
Lamakaan, Hyderabad – July 2010 – Followed by a discussion
India International Center, Delhi – July 2010 – Followed by a discussion
Picture credits – Erik de Maaker