Fire in the Mountains
Director: Ajitpal Singh
Drama – 2021 – 84 minutes – 13+ – Arab Premiere
India
Language: Hindi – subtitled in English
Screenplay: Ajitpal Singh
Cast: Vinamrata Rai, Chandan Bisht, Sonal Jha
Cinematography: Dominique Colin
Editing: Parikshhit Jha, Simon Price
Producers: Ajay Rai, Alan McAlex, Mauli Singh, Amit Mehta
Awards: Silver Lady Harimaguada for 2nd Best Film and Best Actor Award – Las Palmas De Gran Canaria International Film Festival 2021; Audience Award for Best Film – Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles 2021; Best Director – New York Indian Film Festival 2021; Jury Award for Best Film – Ouray International Film Festival 2021
Synopsis:
A mother toils to save money to build a road in a Himalayan village to take her wheelchair-bound son for physiotherapy but her husband who believes that a shamanic ritual (Jagar) is the remedy, steals her savings.
Director’s Biography:
Born in Punjab, Ajitpal Singh was 8 years old when his father, a farmer and ex-army man, ran a cinema hall in Bathinda which suffered massive losses and was shut down during insurgency. His family moved to Ahmedabad where his father worked as a security guard. Singh grew up in a ghetto amidst poverty and violence and faced discrimination due to anti-Sikh sentiments in India at the time. After studying chemistry, theatre and photography, he pursued filmmaking as his calling. His passions are writing, reading, cooking, cycling, and travelling. He commutes by bicycle in Mumbai and uses an old-fashioned Nokia phone.