Global Lens Film: SHYAMAL UNCLE TURNS OFF THE LIGHTS

Bates College Olin Arts Center, 104
75 Russell Street
Lewiston, ME 04240
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An 80-year-old Kolkata retiree is on a mission to get his neighborhood streetlights turned off after sunrise after he notices they stay on all day as well. Shyamal Uncle finds his sense of propriety upset by this wasteful expense of electricity. But finding someone to take him seriously proves a battle against an indifferent bureaucracy and a complacent status quo (and is just maybe a welcome distraction from his otherwise dull routine). Suman Ghosh’s vérité-style film is alive with the sights, sounds and personalities of this old Kolkata neighborhood, as his unlikely protagonist pursues a quest that adds up to a wry, revealing, highly original tour of modern India.

Director: Suman Ghosh
India
Bengali, with subtitles in English

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