SEXY DURGA
Documentary footage shows scenes of a surreal Hindu festival where men perform sadistic rituals – walking on coals or being hauled in the air by metal hooks on their backs – in honour of the female goddess Durga. The footage is juxtaposed with fictional scenes depicting a young runaway couple – the female’s name is also Durga – and depending on the kindness of strangers who offer them a lift to reach their destination. Firstly, we don’t know precisely where these characters come from and where they are going. Secondly, the atmosphere of this journey is unsettling and ambiguous. While SEXY DURGA does draw on Indian rituals, traditions, and culture, landscapes of the film are widely nameless, and the documentary footage may as well be, for example, recreations of an imagined post-apocalyptic world. (Matt Micucci)