The Kabir Project brings together the experiences of a series of ongoing journeys in quest of this 15th century north Indian mystic poet as well as other Bhakti and Sufi poets in our contemporary worlds. This inquiry into Kabir's poetry took the form of four feature-length documentaries, shot over four years, directed and edited by filmmaker Shabnam Virmani. I had the good fortune of working on the edit with her, as an assistant editor for a few months.
A little more about each of these films, and an excerpt:
Chalo Hamara Des
Come to My Country
Journeys with Kabir and Friends
This film interweaves the stories of two people from two very different countries, Indian folk singer Prahlad Tipanya and North American scholar Linda Hess. Where is Kabir’s country? The answer is elusive, as we journey through song and poem into these two lives, brought together in an unlikely friendship by the cross-cultural resonance of Kabir.
Come to My Country
Journeys with Kabir and Friends
This film interweaves the stories of two people from two very different countries, Indian folk singer Prahlad Tipanya and North American scholar Linda Hess. Where is Kabir’s country? The answer is elusive, as we journey through song and poem into these two lives, brought together in an unlikely friendship by the cross-cultural resonance of Kabir.
Had Anhad
Bounded Boundless
Journeys with Ram and Kabir
Kabir was a 15th century mystic poet of north India who defied the boundaries between Hindu and Muslim. He had a Muslim name and upbringing, but his poetry repeatedly invokes the widely revered Hindu name for God – Ram. Who is Kabir’s Ram?
This film journeys through song and poem into the politics of religion, and finds a myriad answers on both sides of the hostile border between India and Pakistan.
Kabira Khada Bazaar Mein
In the Market Stands Kabir
Journeys with Ram and Kabir
This award-winning film interweaves his deification by the Kabir Panth sect with his secular appropriation by the social activist group Eklavya. The story unfolds through the life of Prahlad Tipanya, a Dalit singer whose participation in both domains, begins to raise difficult questions for him about ritual and organized religion
Koi Sunta Hai
Someone Is Listening
Journeys with Kumar and Kabir
Journeys with Kumar and Kabir
Interweaving the folk music traditions of the mystic poet Kabir with the life and music of the late classical singer Kumar Gandharva, this film searches for that elusive sound, that jhini si awaaz, Kabir urges us to hear. Journeying between folk and classical, oral and written, rural and urban expressions of this 15th century mystic poet of north India, the film finds moments of both continuity and rupture between these disparate worlds.
