Thamp (The Circus Tent)

media release: India | 1978 | DCP | 129 min. | Malayalam with English subtitles

Director: Aravindan Govindan; Cast: Bharath Gopi, Nedumudi Venu, D.P. Nair

The bucolic existence of a riverside town is disrupted by a traveling circus troupe. Filmed in cinéma-vérité style, director Aravindan rounded up a troupe of actual circus artistes and traveled with them to the village of Thirunavaya on the banks of India’s Bharathapuzha river. The resulting film is a gently poetic allegory that maintains the improvisational and immediate qualities of a documentary. Restored by Film Heritage Foundation, The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna at Prasad Corporation Pvt. Ltd’s Post – Studios, Chennai and L’Immagine Ritrovata Laboratory in Bologna, and in association with Producer K. Ravindranathan Nair of General Pictures, and the family of Aravindan Govindan. Presented with the support of the Center for South Asia.

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