Children of The Pyre

http://www.jff.org.il/?CategoryID=550&ArticleID=564

Prod. & Ph.: Rajesh S. Jala
Festivals: Montreal (Best Documentary Award), Pusan, IDFA
Source: The Elements, New Delhi
Ever visited India? If so, Varanasi was almost certainly on your route; tourists arrive here for one reason alone: Manikarnika, the vast open-air cremation grounds on the banks of the Holy Ganges, where more than 150 bodies go up in flames each day with the promise of liberation from the cycle of birth and death.

A great 24/7 industry exists around the rituals of death, providing a living for many people. Scampering between the families of the deceased and the business owners are children for whom the site is a playground. Kapil, Sunil, Manish, Ashish, Yogi, and Gagan, six boys from the “untouchable” class, spend most of their time collecting material to stoke the fires. Ravi, not more than fourteen-years-old, already has experience with the bodies themselves; according to him he has already stoked no less than 1,000 pyres. Without Western self-righteousness or passing judgment, documentarist Rajesh S. Jala followed these children for a year and a half. The average person would do anything to avoid contact with death, but for them, this contact is a means of survival. And, even in the most horrific of moments, children are children. The film’s protagonists represent millions of other children, who instead of going to school, struggle to earn a loaf of bread for themselves and their families.