Friday, May 12, 8:30 PM, Charles Theatre 5

Director: Deepa Mehta

Cast: Lisa Ray, John Abraham, Sarala, Seema Biswas

Country: Canada
Year: 2005
Running Time: 115:00 minutes
Format: 35mm

The sacred Hindu texts state that a widow should be “long suffering until death, self-restrained and chaste.” Set in 1938 Colonial India, Water tells the story of a “widow house” where women of all ages are taken to live (even today) apart from society after the death of their husband. Eight-year-old Chuyia arrives at such a house after the man she was wed to for financial reasons dies and affects the lives of the other residents including a beautiful young widow, Kalyani.

This was also the time of Gandhi, who fought not only against British rule but also against social injustice he saw carried out in the name of religion or custom. Narayan, a Gandhian idealist, meets and falls in love with Kalyani and challenges the long held traditions. Although the film takes place almost seventy years ago, the issues it tackles are still pertinent to the situation in India today. Filming was shut down by violent protests by Hindu extremists and the production had to be remounted in secret in neighboring Sri Lanka.

Water was the Opening Night Gala at the Toronto International Film Festival and the recipient of nine Genie Award (the “Canadian Oscars”) nominations including three award wins.

-- Dan Krovich

Presented By: David Hamilton

Producer David Hamilton has worked together with Deepa Mehta several times before Water. He had previously produced Deepa Mehta’s critically acclaimed feature films Fire and Earth, and following the original shutdown of Water, Hamilton collaborated once again with Mehta by producing Bollywood/Hollywood. He has also executive produced Lunch With Charles (MFF 2001).

After completing his undergraduate studies at McGill, Hamilton went on to Harvard for a masters degree. While at Harvard, he wrote a book on decision theory that was published by MIT Press. A Harvard Sheldon Traveling Fellowship enabled him to travel and study for one year in the Middle East, Iran and India. His business ventures have taken him to every corner of the globe and span a variety of enterprises, including communications, publishing, and concert production and feature film production.