UPDATE: Storyloom’s 3 out of 5 short films on Women Weavers of Tripura are being screened at Lakme Fashion Week 2018, in Mumbai tomorrow!

Here’s a throwback to our conversation with them:

A year ago we came across a beautiful page on Facebook, titled Storyloom Films.

Time-film rolled and we caught up with Keya Vaswani and Nidhi Kamath, the brains and eyes behind Storyloom Films. Best friend turned work partners, the unique team of two, makes documentaries on Indian Art and Artisans.

“We both studied at the Indian Institute of Crafts and Design (IICD) in Jaipur and were best friends. Having completed a four-year diploma course in Craft Product Designing, we found ourselves equipped with thorough knowledge of arts, and the dream to go beyond products. And because we shared the same interest for traveling and storytelling, we were fortunate to get an opportunity to shoot a film on Banarasi Saris for the well-known Textile Historian Padmashree, Rahul Jain. And that marked the beginning of our journey…”

Earlier we talked with them about their ‘mission to change the lives of our country’s underprivileged craftsmen’, but curious about their recent projects, today we reached out to them again. “Whatsup, Storyloom Films?”

Uh-oh, keen to know about the interesting updates we received? Read on:

First things first, how has 2017 been so far?

Great, great! We were involved in a lot of projects and shot quite a few films. And on the personal front, we wonder if you’re aware that we both migrated from Bangalore to our respective hometowns. (Whoa, when did that happen?)

Nidhi: Yes! Initially we were a little apprehensive thinking how we will coordinate from different cities, but eventually we took the plunge, and it’s been great so far. I moved to Baroda, Gujarat, and apart from the film projects, did a few theater workshops. And other than that, have been spending time with books, and my recently adopted guinea pig. (Aww!)

Keya: I recently shifted to Jaipur, with my husband and two cats. Thoroughly enjoying the settling-in phase, and have fallen in love with the refreshing vibes. When not shooting for a film, I am a homemaker, and it brings me as much joy as traveling and filmmaking do!

That’s great! And what about the recent TEDx experience? How successful were you in showing “India through the lens of crafts”?  

It was an amazing! We talked about why we chose to make films on the underprivileged artisans in the first place, and how we intend to create awareness about our country’s dying art and craft forms. Did you know, after agriculture, crafts happen to be the next most popular primary activity in our country?

Sadly the situation is that either we don’t know about the practice or we don’t give them the deserving respect and appreciation. And that’s where we sought inspiration from. Only if people address the artisans’ existence, will they, who by-the-way, are no less than “artists” themselves, begin to find more pride in their skill and work!

Brilliant. So tell us about the film that you shot on Gujarat’s Bandhani Art, this September?

Bandhani is a very unique and delicate art form, and the film primarily focuses on the elaborate process that its making involves. If you’ve ever noticed, a typical Bandhini embroidery piece consists of thousands of knots, and all of them are hand-done! (Yes!) So we stayed in Bhuj for ten days, and shot the film in the Tera village. Every single day we’d go to the village and interact with the artisans, to observe their artwork and life from close, and stitch a beautiful film!

What new did you two learn during this filmy expedition?

We learnt a lot of things during the shoot. A senior artisan of Tera, Mr. Abdul Khatri showed us around the village, and we were particularly intrigued by the time and efforts the knot-tying process takes. More the number of precisely tied knots, better is the final embroidery, and their number varies from one thousand to ten thousand!

It was a blissful experience to see the whole community coming together and working for their art, especially in the evenings, when groups of men and women would sit under the peepal trees and tie knots while chatting and sipping tea.

A lesser-known fact – it is the men who started Bandhani and hence are more skilled than women in dying and knotting!

[Aaj humare saath ek bahut achha incident hua ki jab humne Abdul Khatri ji se poocha ke bandhani ko leke koi lok katha hai kya? Aur unhone kahan ke aisa mana jaata hai ki kisi Sufi Santh ne yeh dhaagey bandhein they.. aur har dhaagey ke saath ek dua bandhi. Aur uski vajah se yeh kaam aaj tak chala arha hai!] Excerpt from one of Storyloom Films’ Facebook posts.

Wow! You also shot two films for the traditional art forms of Andhra Pradesh?

Yes! One of them was on Block Printing, which is carried out in Machalipattnam (Kalamkari), and the other called Uppada, is a form of weaving. Regarding block printing, we were surpirsed to learn that to help develop the colour evenly, the fabric is washed endless number of times. And they carry it out in the ponds itself! You must be thinking that it is possibly leading to water pollution; well it doesn’t, and that’s because the dyes are natural. And it happens to be the only Indian craft that makes use of natural dye!

We also took some shots standing in the middle of the ponds and it was great fun, they exclaimed.

And did you discover an intriguing characteristic of Uppada, too?

Oh yes, we did! The unique aspect of Uppada weaving lies in its intrinsicality. The motifs mostly are based on flowers and peacocks, and the front design is replicated on the back, which because of its fineness, gives the appearance of a print. Also, Uppada being a small coastal village, its unexplored surroundings make a serene and pleasant view!

Ah! And what positive outcomes have your films brought for the artisans?

Given the reach that film as a medium offers, we aim at providing a base to the artisans, which directly or indirectly would help them in promoting their art and skill. And of course, should get them more admirers and customers for their splendid work!

One of your recent films was about a unique wastewater-recycling unit. Does it aim at educating others about the process? 

It’s a small textile-printing unit, called Bodi, in Baroda, that runs a unique eco-friendly project inside their workshop. Based on the bio-remedial process, they recycle the water which they use for washing the naturally dyed fabric, and after purifying, water their plants with it. We have covered their process in detail, for other artisans to seek inspiration and learn.

And before we forget, what are the Photography Projects’ Facebook posts about?

Photography has been our first love, which to be honest, led us to Filmmaking in the first place. Beginning of this year, due to GST and Demonetization, we experienced a huge gap between two projects, and thought of giving professional photography a go. So we took a few projects, including a brand shoot at Baroda, and are now looking forward to a project in Benaras for which we have collaborated with a cinematographer.

One of Keya and Nidhi’s films, ‘Weaves Of Maheshwar’, recently won the Rajat Kamal for Best Promotional Film at the 63rd National Film Awards. It documents the journey of weavers of the Maheshwar town of Madhya Pradesh, towards reviving their local art. It was a part of their Fellowship with PARI – People’s Archive of Rural India, and they’re now on the hunt of a subject for their next film!

Don’t miss a weave from Storyloom Films, here.

This article was first published on November 5th, 2018.