A while back, there were postings regarding films depicting filmaking. This is a related item. One of the better records of filmaking, IMHO, is THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF CHACHAJI, which appeared in the NEW YORKER 21 and 28 July, 1980; it later was published as a book of the same name. Ved Mehta, a well-known Indian author, was content expert, contact person, writer and narrator of a documentary film titled "Chachaji, My Poor Relation," produced as part of the WORLD series in 1978, with David Fanning as executive producer and William Cran as producer. The book is Mehta's record of the production process. Mehta had no documentary experience and was sought out by Fanning on the basis of his reputation as a writer about India. His observations on the filmmaking process -- technical, political, and human -- are perceptive, to say the least. He ends the process by finding the finished film "a remarkable accomplishment," a somewhat surprising conclusion given the many compromises of his vision of India that the process has entailed. It's a remarkably insightful record. The film strikes me as a minor piece; the effort, the intentions, the intrigues, the compromises of filmmaking seem lost in a rather thin view of an extremely complex and difficult subject. Perhaps it shows only that film has enormous limitations in such circumstances, or perhaps it's just not a very good film. But Mehta's recording is excellent, and with the film as a companion, it makes an fine illustration. Both the book and the film are available. - *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** P.J. O'Connell 814-865-3333 (O) | You can always tell the Penn State University 814-865-3145 (F) | pioneers...by counting 205 Wagner Bldg. [log in to unmask] (I) | the arrows in them. University Park, PA 16802 76520,1360 (CIS) | ************************Go fast; take chances.*************************