Norsk filminstitutt

Documentary maker Johar Pankaj from Delhi has a close bond with his 54-year-old housekeeper Cecilia. As the years have passed, she has become part of the family – she even joins them when they go on vacation. It comes as an immense shock when they hear that Cecilia's 14-year-old daughter has died in mysterious circumstances in the city. The police believe that this live-in maid for a wealthy family committed suicide, but no one can explain to Cecilia what might have driven her to do such a thing. Likewise, there is no answer to the question of why her daughter wasn’t simply at home in her village in northeastern India. Pankaj and his wife follow Cecilia and help her to find answers and justice. But her efforts seem doomed to fail in the face of complex family disputes, criminal gangs, corrupt police officers and a rotten judicial system. The human trafficker whom they believe is responsible is being protected – by officialdom and by Cecilia’s very own flesh-and-blood family. Continual threats and promises of large sums of hush money don’t make it any easier to get a grip on the situation – for either Cecilia or the filmmaker.

Production and distribution

Production Year:
2015
Production country:
India
Co production country:
Norway
Release date (international):
2015-11-19
Production company:
Penny Wise Films
Co production company:
Lightsource Film Productions
Producer:
Pankaj Johar
Co producer:
Arne Dahr
Finn McAlinden

Crew

Director:
Pankaj Johar
Screenplay:
Pankaj Johar
Cinematographer:
Pankaj Johar
Nirmit Shahi
Vidhi Sharma
Hirak Das
Editor:
James Valiakulathil
Pankaj Johar
Composer:
Avinash Baghel
Sound Design:
Niraj Gera
Sound Recording:
Sunaina Kapoor
Narrator:
Pankaj Johar

Technical information

Format:
DCP 2k
Colour:
Colour
Length in min's:
85'

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