NIGHT AND FEAR

Lipika Singh Darai • 2023 • 28m

_{Available worldwide}

Synopsis

The residuals of recorded material generated by the filmmaker over a decade of filmmaking practice, with the passing of time, have acquired new meaning. With a range of experiences—from a local witch hunt to a meeting with a stunning waterfall—the past, the present, the fear and the intuitive-self have found shelter in the characters and spaces from the world captured through image and sound which have aged just enough to correlate and run a parallel narrative. Having a twofold interior, Night and Fear is a personal essay addressed to the filmmaker’s grand aunt, but also a reflection on the impact of making film —on the filmmaker herself and the society.

About the director

Lipika Singh Darai

Lipika Singh Darai is a film director, writer and editor based in Odisha, India. She studied filmmaking at the Film and Television Institute of India and specialized in sound recording and design. After working for two years in Mumbai as a sound recordist, around 2013, she shifted to Odisha, her home state, to make films from there. At that point, in Odisha, not many made documentaries or short films and there weren’t any practising women filmmakers. Since then, she has directed and edited several prominent documentaries and short fiction films which have contributed towards a critical understanding of the socio cultural milieu of the state. Her films have been screened across the globe including all major Indian Film Festivals. She has been a juror in various film festivals in India. She has received four National Film Awards — country’s prominent film awards. Her latest feature documentary BACKSTAGE produced by the Films Division of India had its world premiere at the 39th Asolo Art Film Festival 2021, Italy in the feature competition. Her recent documentary NIGHT AND FEAR (2023) premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in its Ammodo Tiger Short competition. She is one of the creative talents in Bafta Breakthrough-India 2023.