Events

Title: Sound Of Old Rooms (Kokkho-Poth)
Directed, Filmed and Edited by: Sandeep Ray
Length of Film: 74 minutes

There will be a question-and-answer session with the director after the film screening.

View trailer: https://vimeo.com/sandeepray/trailersoundofoldrooms

CHAIRPERSON

Dr Sun Jung, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore

SYNOPSIS

Filmed over 20 years, The Sound Of Old Rooms, traces the life of Sarthak, an Indian man who juggles his desire to be a poet with the practicalities of being a professor and raising a family. As a college student he had time to drink with friends and discuss his writings; now with teaching commitments, he struggles to continue his dream. The crumbling home where he was raised and still lives with his nagging but affectionate mother, wife and young son, is extremely cramped; he sleeps, as he has since a child, surrounded by books. Sarthak leads us through Kolkata’s bars, apartments and alleyways as he tries to understand life and find meaning in his work.

“The film explores love – love of a young couple struggling to survive in a cramped old house and intellectual imbroglios; the love of a mother for a son with lofty ideas and a poor liver; commitment of the readers as their beloved poet goes through a creative block. The film manages to capture the spirit of Calcutta by focusing on the vicissitudes of one family.”
– Nishtha Jain (director, Gulaabi Gang)

“A lovely film by a patient filmmaker.”
– Anand Patwardhan

“There is never a moment when we feel that we are voyeurs or that the scenes are being manipulated for the camera.”
– Roy Stafford, In The Picture

• World Premiere: Pusan International Film Festival, 2011
• Dubai International Film Festival, 2011
• Sydney Film Festival June 2012
• Taiwan International Documentary Film Festival, October 2012 – Winner, Grand Prize, Asia Vision Section
• Jihlava International Documentary Festival, Czech Republic, October 2012
• CPH: DOX Copenhagen International Documentary Festival Nov, 2012
• In Competition, Asia Pacific Screen Awards, November 2012
• Jean Rouch International Film Festival, Paris, November 2012
• Delhi International Film Festival Dec 2012

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Sandeep Ray is a final year PhD candidate in the department of History at NUS, researching early colonial cinema in the Netherlands East Indies. His films have been screened at several festivals and forums internationally. He received the Grand Prize from the Taiwan International Documentary Film Festival in 2012, and a Best Director Award from the Dubai International Film Festival in 2013. His work has been supported by the Asian Cinema Fund (Korea), The LEF Foundation, The Princess Grace Foundation and the NEH. Sandeep frequently reviews films and is a juror of the Festival Film Dokumenter in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

REGISTRATION

Admission is free. We would greatly appreciate if you RSVP to Ms Tay Minghua via email: minghua.tay@nus.edu.sg.