February 2011

At a tent theatre near you

Patrons of traveling cinemas watch films at night screenings in Maharashtra. Once every year, the nomadic cinemas travel to these remote villages still located far from fixed-site theatres. Showing an eclectic mix of films including regional language films in Marathi, Bollywood blockbusters in Hindi and even dubbed Hollywood flicks. Built as mobile and make-shift the cinemas offer a uniform seating arrangement on the earth, under the canopy of a huge tent. The audience pays Rs. 15 per show.

Over three years of his engagement with the cinemas, Amit Madhesiya (a Tasveer Ghar fellow) discovered lived associations of patrons with their traveling cinemas - which fuel their fantasies, desires and aspirations. With such patrons, the cinemas also feel strengthened in their fight for survival, against all pervasive DVD and cable networks. Amit has been granted the World Press Photo award for 2010 for his depiction of the tent cinemas. Also see a more detailed news on the website of the Cluster of Excellence: Asia and Europe in Global Context (Heidelberg University), of which Amit is a member.

See more of his photographs fom this series here.

World Press Photo was founded in 1955. It is known for organizing the world's largest and most prestigious annual press photography contest. Prize-winning photographs are assembled into a traveling exhibition that is visited by over two million people in 45 countries worldwide.

Photo credit Amit Madheshiya, 2010