Film Screening: True Blue (Neeli Raag) presented by the filmmaker Swati Dandekar

"Indigo is not just a colour, it never was... it was wealth, it was mystique, it was colonialism, tyranny and protest. It made history, but itself fell prey to the events and processes of time, until one day it seemed to disappear.
As the world begins to demand natural dyes once again, it is back in the spotlight. The stubborn dreamers who refused to forget their craft feel vindicated, but the world that once nurtured this difficult and capricious colour is no more. Crafting indigo requires body knowledge and commitment that is at variance with the ever increasing demand dictated by fashions and trends that are themselves ephemeral but expect constancy from the craftsmen.
Interwoven with the narratives of the indigo craftsmen is the colour itself in its many moods, textures and forms. How does a green leaf yield blue colour? How do the different shades emerge? What is the chemistry that makes this possible? The processes of indigo are almost magical to behold, as murky solutions transform into a vibrant blue, bit by bit. This is a blue that deepens, mesmerises, stains, and seeps into the skin and nails, indeed the lives of those who craft it."

Film Title: True Blue (Neeli Raag)
Duration: 68 minutes
Languages: Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, English; Subtitled in English
Year of Production: 2018

Review in the Hindu

Review in Firstpost

Festivals:
Premiered at MAMI Film Festival, Mumbai, October 2018
Signs Film Festival, Kerala, November 2018
Craft-in Focus Film Festival, Amsterdam, April 2019
Apricot Tree International Ethnographic Film festival, Armenia, September 2019 - Special Jury Award
Ethnografilm, Paris, April 2022

About the filmmaker:
Swati Dandekar is a documentary filmmaker based in Bangalore with a special interest in creating visual narratives of the living history of people, places, ideas, traditions, and practices. Her current interest is the study of textile crafts and the relationship between crafts persons and their craft, resulting in her most recent work, the feature length documentary Neeli Raag. She also teaches film at the Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore.