Research Focus Group Talk: Homes for Gods and Mortals: Film Screening and Discussion with the Director

Homes for Gods and Mortals is a 2018 documentary by the acclaimed Indian film scholar Gayatri Chatterjee. It follows life in two small settlements neighboring the temple complex of Khajuraho, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Madhya Pradesh, India, that is famous for its ornate medieval architecture. The film focuses on the present-day residents of the villages—the nature of their embodied modes of worship and ritual performances—and the interaction of individual lives in a dynamic network around the temples. The film traces a continuous history of migration, settlement, and displacement and of material poverty amid spiritual riches.

The film screening will be followed by a discussion with the film’s director, Gayatri Chatterjee, a film scholar based in Pune, India. She has taught and lectured widely in India, Europe, and the United States. She is currently based at Pune’s Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts as a visiting faculty member. Her publications on cinema include two books: Awara (reissued by Penguin, 2003), winner of the 1992 President’s Gold Medal; and Mother India (British Film Institute, BFI Film Classics Series, 2002).

Sponsored by the IHC’s South Asian Religions and Cultures RFG