The story of three girls from Kolcata, India, of their rescue, dreams, and difficulties are told in the film “A Burst of Song” coming soon on YouTube Aurora Vision channel. Their story touched me deeply, and I hope it will awaken confidence in those who watch it. The film has been selected, finalist, nominated, in 136 festivals worldwide, winning 56 awards.
The protagonists
Bharati, Rahima, Sumita were born where nobody would want to be born: under the bridge, along the railway, in the street. Little girls who grew up at the mercy of every passer-by, who live in fear of every breath. For them, the night represents fear, the sound of footsteps is the thread of terror.
All three arrive by different routes at the home of the Sisters of Providence and find a family there. The first step for the sisters is to give them back their smiles. Then come the dreams, like Rahima’s: to fly. The film follows the thread of the protagonists’ dreams and relies on the dreams of the new girls welcomed into the home.
“A Burst of Song” the film on the rescue of three girls in Kolcata, India
“When the heart is hard and parched up,\come upon me with a shower of mercy.\When grace is lost from life,\come with a burst of song…\ When my beggarly heart sits crouched, shut up in a corner,\break open the door, my king, and come with the ceremony of a king.\When desire blinds the mind with delusion and dust, O thou holy one,\thou wakeful, come with thy light and thy thunder. ” Writing this is Tagore, the great poet of Bengal, a man of spirit with the universe within. Tagore created a common language between India and western culture, building bridges of dialogue.
Kolcata
Kolkata in the film about the redemption of three girls in India. It is impossible to describe Kolkata, the chaos of India. The three protagonists experience it in different ways, but they intertwine in its crowded streets. Ferran Paredes Rubio’s images try to restore some atmosphere. Rahima sums it up like this: ‘When I think about where I came from, and I look at my hostess diploma, I am still incredulous. Now I want to study more, I am going to university. I am always supported by the nuns, who never let me give up. ‘In the end we will not be judged by the amount of work we have done, but by the weight of love we have put into our work,’ Mother Teresa told us. Her tomb is just a few blocks from the hostel. Kolkata is like that… It vibrates on the verses of Tagore, it walks in the footsteps of Gandhi, it breathes the love of Mother Teresa.”
Behind the scenes of the film on the rescue of three girls in Kolcata, India
We filmed ‘Explosion of a Song’ in India in January 2020, the month before the world pandemic broke out. We were in Kolkata hosted by the Sisters of Providence to work on the film and the “COMPLEXion” project with Nina Davuluri and Deanna Walker. The story of the protagonists literally jumped out at me. It “grabbed me and carried me away”. I wanted to tell the world about their smiles, their dreams and the confidence of those who had helped them.
The most difficult part was filming in Kolkata because of the noise: between horns and screams it was practically impossible to get live audio. Some of the crew equipped themselves with earplugs to take cover.
Barhati
‘A Burst of Song’ is also the last message of Barhati, an extraordinary girl. Barhati has faced unimaginable difficulties in life, one after the other, overcoming them. Her heart remained open to the encounter of the different, to other religions, to solidarity. She escaped the ‘Red Light Zone’, the red light district, and in her few years was able to restore dignity to her life. She left us as soon as we finished editing the film. It was so hard, we found out that way, almost by accident. The film’s 56 awards all go to her, to Barhati, to her memory and to her spiritual testament.
