Supriya Prasad’s documentary Portrait Of A Willow Woman heads to Stuttgart

The 18th edition of the Indian Film Festival Stuttgart is all set to be held virtually from 21–25 July and will showcase 40 feature films, short films and documentaries from all over India.

Supriya Prasad’s debut documentary Willow Maatju Juni Akaini (Portrait Of A Willow Woman) will be screened as part of the festival. The film describes the life of Deeptimoni Hajong, an 82-year-old indigenous woman from Meghalaya who clings to traditional healing practices, beliefs and spirituality.

The film emerged from a personal space for Supriya Prasad who said, “It’s like the story found me and I had to tell it... I met this woman [the protagonist of the film] in my hometown in Meghalaya. I was baffled to see a wrinkled vegetable seller frolicking like a 20-year-old at my doorstep. Upon asking, I learnt that she was 82 years old and her name was Deeptimoni. The thought of this woman kept lingering even when I came back to Bombay. It kept irking me for a year. I wanted to know more about her, her life and her home.”

This became the moment when the film was conceptualized. “Capturing her life was the only way to keep her alive and to keep alive the memories of many strangers whom we wished to meet but couldn’t,” she said.

Supriya shot the film single-handedly, doing the cinematography, sound and direction with no crew to help her. “This film has been my film school in every way and taught me everything about filmmaking — direction, editing, camera, sound. I now know that I want to write stories and direct them myself. And for anyone who wants to pursue filmmaking, the best thing is just to pick up a camera, shoot something and edit it,” she said.