It was also through the protests that she met her protagonists, Ganesh and Rakesh, and started following their lives individually. Sarvnik observes the two from a distance as they interact with each other and look for ways to sustain themselves amidst the changing nature of the sea. The film is shot with a distinct gaze, where the filmmaker’s presence is not felt. It unfolds more like a fiction than a documentary, as there are no direct interviews with the subjects and at no point do they address the camera. Sarvnik was clear with her gaze right from the start. “To imagine that as an outsider, I can go and make a narrative out of their lives because I am so creative and clever, was a folly that I didn’t want to fall into,” she says. What she wanted was not their consent for her presence, but rather an enthusiastic collaboration. “They were going through difficult moments and I didn’t feel the need to pick up the camera every time,” says Sarvnik. “So, there was no pressure between us. I never asked them for anything and in return, they gave me everything. That lent a certain non-transactional quality to the process,” she reveals.Against The Tide won the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival last year. Along with recent documentaries like All That Breathes, Writing With Fire, and While We Watched, Sarvnik’s film represents a new voice in Indian non-fiction filmmaking, which has been gaining accolades at film festivals worldwide. “It is good that we are making a space for ourselves,” she says. “It takes a village to make a film and to find your own is difficult.” Sarvnik feels that being a documentary filmmaker is like existing in a strange dichotomy. “On one hand, there is this god-like feeling that you can derive narratives out of thin air and at the same time, there is an absolute helplessness due to lack of support,” says the filmmaker.A downside of the occupation, according to her, is that they are not given a salary. “Our product acquires value only when it is sold. Otherwise, it’s just unpaid free labour,” she says, adding that she is overcome with despair at times. “But then I remind myself that I am not doing a corporate job at least,” she quips. Sarvnik feels that challenging times are good for filmmakers. “We are a breed of troublemakers and we will keep finding new ways to move ahead,” she concludes.
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