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Jay Corn - 6 November 2003 - Drowned Out -  Documentarian speaks outPublication: University chronicle
Chest-deep in river water, camera in hand, she almost didn't believe what she was seeing. As government police descended on the throng of people prepared to drown in defense of their homes, Franny Armstrong never stopped filming.
That's what she went to India to do: to document and record the plight of India's indigenous Adivasis people as they, along with hundreds of thousands of others, fought the Indian government to keep their homes, their land and their way of life.
The Adivasi village of Jalsindhi located on the bank of the Narmada River in western India is in grave danger. The people that have lived in this village for over 12 generations are being forced out by their own government. That is what drove Armstrong to this remote region of the world, and the story she found upon arriving moved her enough to spend three years working on the documentary film titled "Drowned Out."
The 31-year-old former rock 'n' roll drummer turned environmental activist came to SCSU Monday for a screening of the new documentary, and to workshop with students about the intricacies of documentary making. On a whirlwind tour of the U.S. in support of the film, Armstrong had only been in America for five days when she found herself in St. Cloud, arriving in concert with the area's first significant snowfall of the year.
"Well, I didn't bring the snow, but it's quite pretty, actually," Armstrong said, following her workshop with members of the SCSU student body. "Getting to workshop with the students was great, and it was good to see that they were all very interested. They were full of questions and wanted to know about everything from whether or not permission was needed under certain circumstances to how one goes about the production and editing process."
An opportunity
Sponsored by the mass communications department in conjunction with women's studies, Armstrong's visit to SCSU was an important one according to Professor Marjorie Fish. Fish has shown "McLibel" in her classes for several years now, and will be showing "Drowned Out" to her future classes as well. "McLibel," is the story of two English activists who sued McDonald's for various infractions of consumer protection laws, resulting in a six-year-trial, the longest in English history. The film has drawn worldwide acclaim, despite being banned from English television. Fish believes it's important for the student body to understand the importance of the subject matter brought to the table by Armstrong and others like her.
"I want my students to see Franny as an example of what an individual can do, and as an example of what an independent documentary maker can do. It's very important to me that this is a social justice topic and I want students to see that documentary is a social justice venue and that people do this with their lives," Fish said. "These are important events that are going on in our world that we aren't hearing about through mainstream media because we're told that the issues are too complex or that people won't care enough. Students should understand though, that there are incredible events that aren't being covered by the mainstream media, and that if they put these events out to the public, the people worldwide will respond."
A simple beginning
Armstrong's saga started simply enough. While on a crowded commuter train under the streets of London, the filmmaker came across a newspaper article entitled "Villagers in Shadow of Dam Await the End of the World." The article described the Indian government's plan to construct a dam 95 stories high that officials said would create a safe and reliable water source for millions of people in one of the most drought stricken areas of the world.
There were a few problems, though, problems Armstrong believed to be of global proportions. The main problem is that the dam's construction would flood the Narmada River valley, effectively wiping out thousands of villages located on the river's banks, along with 400,000 indigenous inhabitants.
For Armstrong, it was too much to simply forget about. After borrowing 1,000 pounds from a friend, she gathered her belongings, some video tape and headed into the unknown. Six days and 4,000 miles later, Armstrong found herself in the middle of the story of her life.
Arriving at India
"My sister and I got to India, and went down to the village, where we saw about 40 people singing and praying in the river. The water was rising, and these people were prepared to drown and die in defense of their homes and land," Armstrong says of her first day in the country. "I just started filming these people, and realized I had to get a much better understanding of why they would literally rather die than move."
After hearing rumors that the police were coming, quick decisions had to be made. If not for the quick thinking of her sister, the moving footage shot that day of the villagers chest deep in water, chanting and singing in protest would have been confiscated and lost forever. Armstrong's sister, armed with the few hours of footage the pair had gathered, climbed into a boat and made a break for it. Narrowly escaping police detection, Franny's sister made it to Delhi where she sold the tape to the national news. Franny was not so lucky, however. The police came in force, arresting everyone in the area including her. According to Armstrong, she was treated relatively well, partially because she was Western media, and was released the next day.
Worldwide attention
After being released from custody, Armstrong returned to the village where a pleasant surprise awaited her. The footage her sister had escaped with was aired around the world, and as a result, hundreds of new demonstrators from all over gathered to join the fight.
"We were only there one day, and it was the first accomplishment we'd made," Armstrong said of the news broadcast. "It really impressed everyone in the village, and for the first time, we were able to explain to the villagers what we were there to do. They were really happy, and supported us the rest of the time we were there."
Armstrong would spend the next three years going back and forth between India and England, all the while completely immersing herself in the cause. The film follows the life of Luhariya, the village medicine healer, and his family as they cope with the prospect of losing their land to the river their lives have depended on for hundreds of years. Located closest to the river's bank, Luhariya's house will be the first in the village to be submerged, and until that happens, he vows to do everything in his power to find a viable solution. Through unsuccessful appeals to the government and false hopes fostered by the international community, they struggle to find a solution. In the end, however, the best solution was to simply die with their home, which they vow to do rather than accept the government's paltry relocation package.
"We've worked it out that over 40 million people have seen our films," Armstrong said. "However, distribution is a bit of a problem. With some creativity the films get out to the public eventually, and there's always VHS and DVD. I own the copyright, so I can give it away at a very low price. For example, 'McLibel' was aired on a U.S. satellite channel last month that paid us very little money, but another three million people saw it, so it's fine with me."
An edited version of "Drowned Out" recently aired on PBS, and plans are in the works to broadcast the film through other channels. In addition, PBS paid Armstrong to return to India in order to shoot a follow-up piece.
Students weigh in
In the concluding question and answer period with Armstrong, many students voiced their outrage and shock at the behavior of the Indian government. In addition, several students expressed their admiration and respect for Armstrong and her undying quest to spread the truth. First-year student Mike Haglund was one of the students who felt the need to express his anger, in this statement he made after the question and answer session.
"It makes me wonder what would happen if everyone decided to fight for a cause the way you have, and how much change could be brought about if people just took the initiative," Haglund said.
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Quotes:
"Call me biased, but I learnt more from this film (and laughed much more) than I did in Super Size Me."
Nick Fraser, BBC
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