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‘Farming the Revolution’ Review: A Poetic Documentary About India’s Largest Protest
Nishtha Jain's poetic real-time chronicle 'Farming the Revolution' captures the long, resilient road to change.
Chronicling the lengthy stand-off between Indian farmers and the Modi government, during which tens of thousands of Sikh and Punjabi farm workers occupied highways and state borders, the film is remarkable in its audio-visual inquiry into protest as a cultural movement, and in its excavation of the emotional highs and lows involved in making lasting change. Through shots of changing seasons — of people being enveloped by winter fog and summer dust as sunlight peeks into the frame — Jain uses the natural environment as an integral part of her storytelling, depicting the harsh realities faced by the farmers as the world continues to turn. From depicting the movement’s silent growing pains to capturing the farmers’ lucid political demands, the film runs the emotional gamut, and takes an unflinching look at the toll that committed protest and solidarity can extract from those on the front lines.
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