English (subtitled), 43 min, 2008, India
In South Asia, men take most of the important decisions, even about women’s lives. Ratmi, a young, single mother in a village in the Garo Hills wants to get married. Among her people, marriage happens by ‘man capture’. Her male relatives attempt to capture a man for her although she has had lovers.
The narrative observes the players behind Ratmi’s marriage in 2000/2001 and again in 2006, and captures how decision-making shifts back and forth from woman to man, individual to group, ‘insider’ to ‘outsider’.
Humour, ease with the subject of sex and roots in a matrilineal society reveal an unusual people of India.
Selected Screenings:
Bangalore Film Society, India Institute, Amsterdam, 2009;
Delhi International Ethnographic Film Festival, 2009;
Voices From The Fringe – De Balie Amsterdam, 2008;
IIT Kanpur, India, 2008;
Sadolpara Village, West Garo Hills, 2008;