Inside Lens

Currently, Myanmar is undergoing some form of democratisation, however, it is not a linear process in terms of time. As the war between the government and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) is still going, the corporations are forced to halt their operation in the jade mines. Time seems to have frozen in this war zone while waves of poor workers flock to the area. Carrying simple digging tools, they arrive in this paradise, dreaming of getting rich overnight; none of them has ever woken from that dream. The director, Midi Z, is the protagonist's youngest brother. Midi had pictured this place in his head since he was little but never had the chance to see it for himself. Now he is trying to portray his brother in this documentary as he questions his brother why he became a drug addict and abandoned his family. Furthermore, at the time when Aung San Suu Kyi has once again brought hope to the Burmese, it is a film that depicts how people struggle for survival in the darkest corners of this probably the poorest country in Asia.

As the public use of surgical masks becomes widespread in Japan, people have started using them as fashion items, to enhance their beauty, to hide ungroomed faces and conceal identities. Now an increasing number of youngsters are becoming dependent on wearing these masks to cope with the anxiety they feel when interacting with people. While initially comforting, mask dependency further alienates them from society and worsens their mental problems.

Hailed from a poor family, blind boy Kanai Chakraborty chooses the daring life of a swimmer than becoming a singer and begging for living. But his success in the sport couldn't ensure him a job. Even at the age of 40, he has to continue swimming to retain a respectable identity. He participates in the world's longest swimming competition and tames mighty river Ganges covering 81 KM! His success brings in temporary glory but Kanai continues stumbling off the water while sailing smooth on it! But his uncanny knack for chasing uncertainty remains constant and he falls in love with a married woman! While regarded as a ‘burden' in the family already, Kanai risks of being a fallen hero in the community. The film chronicles the roller coaster journey of Kanai who constantly negotiates with destitution, desire and destiny while chasing his dream of a dignified life.

On January 17th 2016 a Dalit, Phd research scholar, and activist Rohith Vemula unable to bear the persecution from a partisan University administration and dominant caste Hindu supremacists hung himself in one of the most prestigious universities in India. His suicide note, which argued against the "value of a man being reduced to his immediate identity" galvanized student politics in India. Over the last year thousands of students all over the country have broken the silence around their experiences of caste discrimination in Universities and have started a powerful anti-caste movement. The film attempts to track this historic movement that is changing the conversation on caste in India.

The homeless in Japan are almost invisible. It's not that homelessness doesn't exist, but that they aren't ‟in your face", the way one would expect in other societies. The homeless are also dwindling in number, as they age along with the general population and are accepted by Social Welfare programs. For various reasons, some fall through the ‟safety net". With the advent of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, these urban poor are under pressure to disappear. What does the future hold for them?

In spite of living on the edge of the world and getting trapped in an extra-ordinary situation, Kofur, an ordinary migrant laborer, longs so deep for an identity and human dignity he has been deprived of since the very moment of his birth. In a very intimate and captivating way, the film uncovers the hitherto untold story of the incredible man and his family, who were born as no-citizens in one of the world's last stateless lands stuck in limbo on the borderland between India and Bangladesh for decades, and denied the most fundamental right to belong to any country, state or nation. Yet, despite getting caught in such an absurd predicament, they keep striving against their marooned destiny and desperately chase their long cherished dream for citizenship against all possible odds. The film traces their drive for an ‘identity' in a time of historical transition from exclusion to inclusion – from being an illegitimate, excluded ‘other' to becoming a legitimate, empowered ‘citizen' of the largest democracy in the world for the first time in their life.

A village in the hills of Northeast India on the Indo-Myanmar border, Tora. People here have been living their lives following the rhythms of the agricultural seasons, their evenings spent in darkness and semi-darkness punctuated by small solar lamps. When the Electricity Department announces that the village might get electrified, there is a mixed response from the people as they have been let down too many times in the past. Can they dare to believe that this time around the promise made to them will be kept? The film gently traverses through Tora sharing glimpses of life and encouraging the viewer to wonder about what will be gained with the coming of electricity and what might be lost even as the village waits.

A wealthy family, once a real estate dealer in South Korea, lost everything with the Asian financial crisis in 1997. From the economically and emotionally dysfunctional family, their only child started to be ashamed of her parents. She distanced herself from them, eventually losing touch completely. Years later, she decided to return to her parents with a camera to find out if they could be a family again. But she is immediately engulfed into her parents' financial problems; the landlord told them to move out from their apartment while they are still obsessed with the real estate and waiting for a jackpot to fix their problems. Can the apple fall far from the tree and can she fix the course of their family?

"Barber in Paradise" is a story about a Hindu man's struggle to earn his place in a society where he always been treated as an outsider. Pradeep Kumar Shil and his family are the only Hindu inhabitants among five thousand Muslims on the Island of Saint Martin's off the coast of Bangladesh. His ancestors, barbers by profession, were one of first families to make the island their home. As time passed, their home was taken away from them by Muslim landowners. After his Father passed away, he took over the family business and runs his own barber shop now. He has given up his fight to get his ancestral land back, but has started a new journey as he is trying to buy a new piece of land on the Island to make it his home again. His business is not doing that good, but he has only two months to clear a payment of 1,600 US Dollars and register the land to his own name.

In the old Indian city of Kolkata, one game can be found in almost every corner – Football! The otherwise laidback leisurely city erupts in a fanfare of passion when it comes to football! And it is this that connects it with a land thousands of miles away – distant Africa. Every year hundreds of African youths come to Kolkata in search of livelihood and glory, fighting it out in its innumerable football fields, from the very popular local "khep" tournaments to the big league matches. These Africans have football in their blood, but their native lands are often torn with conflicts and economic crisis; and behind them are large needy families. So they come to Kolkata, leaving all that they loved behind and focusing solely on football. Here, a young African footballer is a Super Hero – prized for aggression and strength. Local agents fight to have them. But then, one must keep scoring goals. One bad match, and phone calls may stop. Or perhaps, one small injury by a nasty foul and the career can be finished. Kromah is one such African youth, come to this city from Liberia. He comes to live with his fellow Liberians, who live together as one small community in Kolkata. With his family's needs always nagging at his heart, Kromah knows he has to stay ahead, keep the money coming, go on being the super hero. And the struggle begins… Kromah finds a support in an Indian girl – Puja – who comes to live with him in their Liberian household and makes it her family. She knows Kromah will not be with her forever, but then, for whatever time there is, they carry on… It is a journey of passion, rediscovery, compulsions of one's love for family and the fight to an identity often at best rather uncertain. But then, maybe sometimes… football triumphs!

China's one-child policy has taken a toll on thousands of households and millions of individuals since its implementation in 1979. Amplified by gender bias and poverty, penalties imposed by the policy were reason enough for families to give up their daughters in hope of having sons, leaving thousands of baby girls without homes. Now, these abandoned daughters are searching for their long-lost parents, over decades and across provinces. Yangtze Daughters tells the story of one lost daughter's impassioned search for her birth family, and the human cost of the one-child policy that has lasted for generations.

A beautiful Thami village located in Nepal Himalaya near Tibet was razed by the devastating earthquake of 2015. A local slate mine, the inhabitants' primary source of income, disappeared along with it. The hopeless villagers seemed to lose their vitality, but then Kanchi, a 14-year-old village "diva" became a generator of "Hope for the Future." Her new Thami songs using traditional melodies have brought all the villagers together for reconstruction and they plan to present her song to the "god of the mine" for luck when it re-opens.

Sushi is a Japanese culinary tradition from the samurai era. It's an art form that takes years to perfect. The revered job of Itamae (sushi chef) has proven to be one of the most difficult titles for a woman to attain. People believed that women were incapable of meeting the requirements demanded by the "boys' club" mentality of the sushi world. Challenging the view that proper sushi can only be made by men are two women who are throwing their fears and trepidations to the wind and following their passion to "Do Sushi Too."

Sheru is a street kid from the Delhi underground who became fascinated by photography through a children's workshop. Whatever he can earn he saves in the Children's Development Khazana (CDK), a bank managed and run by street kids that also helps them acquire life skills. Sheru wants to return to his estranged, sex-worker mother but more than anything, he wants to buy a camera and become a street photographer. He could easily grumble about his lot in life but he chooses to smile instead, and to make others smile.

Indonesians have a tradition of keeping birds in cages and enormous bird markets. Popular birds are those with a repertoire of beautiful songs, adding new momentum to the business both of trapping birds in the wild and training them to sing beautifully. One teenager is counting on the bird boom to build his future: sixteen-year-old Agok. This episode depicts Agok's personal growth as he struggles to build a life for himself in the industry.

As much as a third of the world's food supply goes to waste each year. Japan alone accounts for 18 million tons of discarded food annually, of which 6 to 8 million tons is still edible. Food waste occurs at different stages of the supply chain. Sometimes, fresh produce doesn't conform to aesthetic and freshness standards. Other times, business practices put pressure on providers to overproduce. The issue involves stakeholders at all levels. Everyone, including consumers, has a responsibility in helping to reduce food loss. This documentary follows those looking for solutions.

China doesn't have a lot of room anymore for peddlers like Su. He set up a ramshackle restaurant next to a construction site on 24th street in Hangzhou, but of course he neglected to obtain a permit. Unsurprisingly, the authorities send him and the other illegal dwellers away. Unfazed, Su and his girlfriend Qin find another place for their restaurant, only to be sent away again. Su then decides to go back home to the countryside, where his wife and children, along with Qin's family, still live. After being away for 30 years, the couple isn't exactly welcomed back with open arms. Filmmaker Zhiqi Pan usually observes Su and Qin's adventures without comment, but does step in on occasion, such as when the unscrupulous Su is trying to cheat people. With its colorful main character, 24th Street offers an original twist to the story of modernizing China—and those on the fringe who can't keep up.

Is it a spiritual win or failure for a man who has lived a life as a lama for 26 years, to choose to live a secular life, to become a merchant or to have a relationship? Sonam was born with a romantic personality, spiritually-led to dedicate to Tibetan Buddhism. He entered Serthar Buddhist Academy, the biggest Buddhist Academy in the world at the age of six, and vowed there to be a monk for life. In the Academy, Sonam has created many beautiful poems about life and death, spirituality and the Buddhist practice. The poems are also his venue to express desires and freedom he's now allowed to have. As China changes rapidly, his brief encounters with the profit-driven mainstream society have planted seeds of disturbance in his life. And he also struggles with a temptation for romance as his childhood sweetheart persists to express love to him. Sonam quits his religious life and gets together with a girl who has waited for him for 17 years. Seemingly relieved to embrace the affection, Sonam has to face the pressure from the community towards his secularization and devastation he's caused on the family. In order to sustain a new life with his now fiance, Sonam now becomes a businessman who runs a printing and translation shop with a staff of Tibetan lamas. As a Lama and poet, Sonam has made all the queries that have not found a solution; now a worldly man and merchant, the situation can only complicate.

Anup Jagdale is probably the only one struggling to not just survive the business inherited from his father but also to keep alive the unusual tradition of touring cinema. Anup always wanted to pursue a 9 to 5 job for a secured future but circumstances led him to join the business of touring cinema after his father met an accident and paralysis made him bedridden. Anup Touring Talkies, a 53-year- old legacy drives across the remotest corners of Maharashtra (India) in its multicolored 73-year- old truck lugged with an 87-year- old cinema projector along with over-a-century old heritage – The INDIAN CINEMA. It is said there were thousands of them in the 1970s. But, with the advent of new means of entertainment, their numbers reduced from thousands to hundreds, hundreds to ten and finally ending up with the only one that is tirelessly carrying its old scratched reels down to the rural spaces. Despite all, the arrival of Talkies in villages is a major event, a sort of　enchanted interlude in the inhabitants' life, who often live isolated. But for how long will Anup fight and sustain this journey where not only the ways of entertainment but demands of the audiences are changing rapidly. Will it be the end of the touring cinema?

85 years old and never married, Shizu has spent the past 3 decades living in one "Danchi" - the Japanese word for public housing - and filling it with the lifetime of souvenirs that have always kept her company. When the danchi is scheduled for demolition, Shizu and neighbors must say goodbye to their homes, and move into newer danchi that are too small to hold all of Shizu's momentos. This intimate documentary captures Shizu's sense of humor, and profound nostalgia, as she sorts through relics of her past, and chooses which memories she must fit into her new home, and which ones she can let go of.

Minu had worked in Korea for 18 years as an undocumented worker. He formed a migrant workers' band and performed actively until he was deported. Back in his homeland Nepal, Minu established himself as a social entrepreneur, but he misses Korea. Minu gets an opportunity to visit Korea in seven years, only to be turned down at the airport. Upon hearing this, his band members decide to visit Minu in Nepal, and they put together a reunion concert.

Some people in Japan are trying to find happiness through surrogacy services. One agency rents out "significant others." A retired man hires a rental wife and children in order to relieve his loneliness. A young man hires a girlfriend, so he can practice going on dates. People can be hired to play a variety of roles, and demand is on the rise. There are others who try to create happy memories through another form of surrogacy. They send their stuffed animals on trips organized by a special travel agency. To help maintain their long-distance relationship, a young man and his girlfriend send their white teddy bears on trips together. A middle-aged woman sends off her panda in memory of her late grandmother. The owners enjoy the trip through instant posts on social media and make new friends. We observe how digital technology is changing people's relationships and even family traditions in Japan. Some people are not only virtually connecting with strangers but are also creating precious memories with them.

In a remote village in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, Gyembo (16) and Tashi (15) aimlessly roam while their father meticulously polishes the ancient relics inside the altar of their family monastery. This family has been taking care of the monastery from one generation to the next for thousands of years. Following tradition, the father wants his son Gyembo to carry on the family heritage but he has other desires just like his transgender sister. The film through bittersweet micro-situations takes us inside a Bhutanese family where the contrasting dreams of two generations are caught in a time clash.