"My Name is Salt" - An awarded film about an Indian family harvesting salt in the desert

Rent or download the complete film at vimeo: https://goo.gl/V782CF

Year after year, Sanabhai brings his family to a seasonal saline desert in Gujerat India, where they harvest what they proudly proclaim to be the world‘s whitest salt, using the same painstaiking, manual techniques as generations before them. Hardship and exploitation loom large in this film, but director Farida Pacha lets this speak for itself, instead fixing her gaze on the poetry and ritual of Sanabhai and his family‘s existence. Exquisite camerawork and a haunting score help Pacha expose the austere beauty of the subject.

Selected Press and Jury Clippings

»This stunningly poised portrait of a season‘s salt-panning … [is] a meditative, immersive picture of labour as an act of faith, made with striking flair and beauty.«
– Sight & Sound

»A beautifully-crafted meditation on the grueling work of salt production. (…) Director Farida Pacha and her cinematographer
Lutz Konermann manage to distill this process into something exquisite, a film crystalline in its austere purity, like the commodity of the title.«
– Hollywood Reporter

»Made with intimacy and compassion, the winning film (…) is never less than intriguing and gently fascinating. A beautifully observed film that takes the viewer on an absorbing journey into a strange and striking world.«
– Jury Statement IDFA Award for First Appearance

Director’s Bio

Farida Pacha was born on June 6, 1972 in Bombay. After obtaining a MFA in filmmaking at Southern Illinois University, USA, she has made several experimental, educational and documentary films. Her documentary THE SEEDKEEPERS won the 2006 Indian National Film Award. MY NAME IS SALT is her feature length documentary debut.

Selected Festivals & Awards

»IDFA Award for First Appearance« IDFA Amsterdam (2013)
»Best Documentary Feature Film« Edingburgh Int’l Film Festival (2014)
»Firebird Award« 38. Hong Kong Int’l Film Festival (2014)
»German Camera Award« Deutscher Kamerapreis (2014)
»First Price of the Jury« Documenta Madrid (2014)
Los Angeles FF, Melbourne IFF, Message to Men, Viennale, ...