Sita poje blues / Sita Sings the Blues

Sita poje blues / Sita Sings the Blues

ZDA, 2008, 35mm, barvni, 90'
V angleškem jeziku s slovenskimi podnapisi.
Režija, animacija, montaža: Nina Paley
Scenarij: Nina Paley (na osnovi / based on Valmiki)
Glasba: Todd Michaelson, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Masala Dosa, Nik Phelps, Rohan
Zvok: Greg Sextro
Glasovi: Annette Hanshaw (Sitino petje/Singing Sita), Sanjiv Jhaveri, Nina Paley, Carrie Keranen, Aladdin Ulah, Reena Shah, Deepti Gupta, Pooja Kumar, Aseem Chhabra, Bhavana Nagulapally, Manish Acharya
Producentka: Nina Paley

Sita je hindujska boginja, prva dama indijskega epa Ramajana in uslužna žena, ki svojemu možu Rami med 14-letnim izgnanstvom zvesto sledi v gozd. Tam pa jo ugrabi zlobni kralj iz Šrilanke. Čeprav ostaja možu zvesta, mora premagati številne preizkušnje …

Nina Paley v svojem prvem celovečercu z uporabo številnih narativnih in vizualnih stilov ustvari izjemno zabavno, a presunljivo vizijo Ramajane. Glasbene točke, katerih koreografijo navdihuje jazzovska pevka iz dvajsetih Annette Hanshaw, uprizarja številčna zasedba: leteče opice, zlobne pošasti, bogovi in boginje, bojevniki, modreci in krilata zrkla. To je zgodba o resnici, pravici in ženskem boju za enakopravnost. Sita poje blues si vsekakor zasluži svoj opis kot 'Največja zgodba o neuspešni ljubezni'.

Nina Paley (1968, Champaign, ZDA) je stara veteranka časopisnih stripov, avtorica stripovskih serij Fluff (Universal Press Syndicate), The Hots (King Features) in svojega neodvisnega tedenskega stripa Nina's Adventures. Leta 1998 je začela snemati neodvisne animirane filme za festivalsko publiko. Med temi so: kontroverzen, a uspešen okoljevarstveni kratkometražec Štorklja (The Stork, 2002), Lubezn je... (Luv Is..., 1998), Pandorama (2000) in Aport! (Fetch!, 2001). Leta 2002 je Nina s svojim takratnim možem odšla v indijski Trivandrum, kjer je prvič spoznala Ramajano. Srečanje z indijskim epom je navdihnilo njen prvi celovečerni animirani film Sita poje blues, katerega je pet let samostojno animirala in producirala na domačem računalniku. Nina Paley je profesorica na Parsonsovi šoli oblikovanja na Manhattnu, leta 2006 pa je bila Guggenheimova štipendistka.

Izbor festivalov in nagrad: Berlinale (posebna omemba žirije), Mednarodni festival animiranega filma Annecy (cristal za najboljši celovečerni film), Mednarodni festival animiranega filma Ottawa (posebna omemba žirije), MFF Atene (najboljši scenarij), MFF Leeds, MFF Seattle, Anima Mundi, Stuttgart ITFS, Nizozemski festival animiranega filma, Anima Bruselj, Anifest, Animafest Zagreb
www.sitasingstheblues.com

Sita Sings the Blue

USA, 2008, 35mm, colour, 90'
In English language with Slovene subtitles.
Directed, Animated, Edited by: Nina Paley
Screenplay: Nina Paley (na osnovi / based on Valmiki)
Music: Todd Michaelson, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Masala Dosa, Nik Phelps, Rohan
Sound: Greg Sextro
Cast: Annette Hanshaw (Sitino petje/Singing Sita), Sanjiv Jhaveri, Nina Paley, Carrie Keranen, Aladdin Ulah, Reena Shah, Deepti Gupta, Pooja Kumar, Aseem Chhabra, Bhavana Nagulapally, Manish Acharya
Produced by: Nina Paley

Sita is a Hindu goddess, the leading lady of India's epic the Ramayana and a dutiful wife who follows her husband Rama on a 14-year exile to a forest, only to be kidnapped by an evil king from Sri Lanka. Despite remaining faithful to her husband, Sita is put through many tests...
In her first feature length film, Paley juxtaposes multiple narrative and visual styles to create a highly entertaining yet moving vision of the Ramayana. Musical numbers choreographed to the 1920's jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw feature a cast of hundreds: flying monkeys, evil monsters, gods, goddesses, warriors, sages, and winged eyeballs. A tale of truth, justice and a woman's cry for equal treatment. Sita Sings the Blues earns its tagline as "The Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told."

Nina Paley (1968, Champaign IL, USA) is a longtime veteran of syndicated comic strips, creating Fluff (Universal Press Syndicate), The Hots (King Features), and her own alternative weekly Nina's Adventures. In 1998 she began making independent animated festival films, including the controversial yet popular environmental short, The Stork (2002). Her other films include: Luv Is... (1998), Pandorama (2000), and Fetch! (2001). In 2002 Nina followed her then-husband to Trivandrum, India, where she read her first Ramayana. This inspired her first feature, Sita Sings the Blues, which she animated and produced single-handedly over the course of 5 years on a home computer. Nina teaches at Parsons School of Design in Manhattan and is a 2006 Guggenheim Fellow.

Selected festivals and awards: Berlinale (Jury Special Mention), Annecy International Animation Film Festival (Cristal for Best Feature), Ottawa International Animation Festival (Jury Honorable Mention), Athens IFF (Best Script), Leeds IFF, Seattle IFF, Anima Mundi, Stuttgart ITFS, Holland Animation Film Festival, Anima Brussels, Anifest, Animafest Zagreb.
www.sitasingstheblues.com