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In the film, Song of the Dunes: Search for the Original Gypsies, the journey begins in India near the Pakistan border. Here live the Untouchables. These musicians and dancers are trapped at the bottom of India's caste system. Battling life's struggles, they keep their spirit alive through music and dance. A millennium ago, some left and traveled in caravans to the far ends of the earth. They are the original Gypsies. Prejudice and persecution still dog them.
Tribes of musicians have lived in the Thar Desert along the India-Pakistan border for a thousand years. Song of the Dunes shines a light on the desperately hard lives of “Untouchable” caste musicians in India’s Rajasthan state today. Over the centuries, the ancestors of these humble musicians have performed in the region’s royal courts. Today, Rajasthan’s traditional musicians play for tourists while struggling to hold on to their homes in the face of road-building projects and luxury developments. The film also features His Highness Gaj Singh II, Maharaja of Jodhpur. Song of the Dunes won the Silver Lei Award for Excellence in Filmmaking at the 2009 Honolulu Film Festival.
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SONG OF THE DUNES
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Paula Fouce and William Haugse’s docu portrait of the indigent folk musicians of Rajasthan…serves as a powerful illustration of the fragility of these musicians’ livelihood, and the unintended consequences of modernization. …As a glimpse of a rarely seen and strikingly harsh way of life, it’s fascinating. “Song of the Dunes” could be a valuable teaching tool for schools and cultural centers.
- Variety
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Paradise Filmworks International
Paradise Filmworks produces unique films on faiths and cultures from around the world. Our hope is that each film will not only inform, but inspire.
Paradise Filmworks is pleased to bring you Song of the Dunes and the story of India’s caste system. The Merasi, other untouchables, and gypsies continue to be persecuted today around the world. Their stories can finally begin to be told.
Paradise Filmworks is currently producing the film, No Asylum: The Family of Anne Frank.
To learn more visit: www.ParadiseFilmworks.com
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