GIVEAWAY: Vanaja!

“Vanaja,” a critical and film festival hit of 2007, will become available on DVD from Emerging Pictures Home Entertainment on May 20th.

Given a “Four Stars” rating by syndicated Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert, “Vanaja” was, said Ebert, “One of the five best foreign language films of 2007.” He went on to praise the film as “…beautiful, extraordinary and heart-touching.” TheNew York Times called it an “…absolutely timeless tale.”

The film opened on nearly 100 screens around the country and went on to win the 2007 Berlin Film Festival’s illustrious Jury Prize for Best First Feature; “Vanaja” became an Official Selection at 104 international film festivals in 49 countries (including the United States) and the recipient of more than twenty-four international film awards, including nominations for two of this year’s Independent Spirit Awards: Best First Film and Best Cinematography.

“Vanaja” marks the feature debut of Indian filmmaker Rajnesh Domalpalli. A Columbia Film graduate, Domalpalli directed the film as his master’s thesis two years ago, shooting the film on location in his hometown in India. Little did he expect the film to reap major critical accolades in America and around the world.

Set in rural South India—a place where social barriers are built stronger than fort walls—“Vanaja” explores the chasm that divides classes as a young girl struggles to come of age. The movie tells the story of Vanaja, a poor fisherman’s 14-year-old daughter, who goes to work in the house of the local Landlady in hope of learning the Kuchipudi dance. But matters turn ugly when the Landlady’s son returns, pitching Vanaja into a battle of caste, class and animus from which there is only one escape.

Director Domalpalli, a resident of both India and New York City, cast the film without any professional actors. “The first hurdle,” he says, “was finding appropriate talent and crew in an Indian state where most filming was big-budget Tollywood, the Telugu-language version of Bollywood that is particular to my hometown and region. Given the rural nature of the story, it was clear that non-actors drawn from hutments, labor camps and the vast Indian middle class were the right choice.”

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES
Separate Featurettes from director Rajnesh Domalpalli and actress Mamatha Bhukya; Domalpalli introduces the film; Bhukya talks about her experiences during the shoot.

A featurette of the unabridged dances from the film (Vasantha Tillana, Sarasuda, Sa-Virane, Attana Jatiswaram, Igiri Nandini).

Original theatrical trailer
Never-before-seen shorts directed by Rajnesh Domalpalli: “The Fisherman’s Daughter” (13 minutes), “Firecrackers” (10 minutes) and “Poison in the Well” (11 minutes), “Just For Him” (14 minutes)