Eleven in Kolkata presents the work of four young filmmakers in Kolkata, West Bengal. Over the course of two months in 2013, Avita, Payel, Saraswati and Soma, all eleven years old, participated in a video workshop coordinated by Rowena Potts and taught by Rowena Potts and Baidehi Sengupta. The workshop ran as part of the 'Childhood and Modernity' Project, directed by filmmaker and Visual Anthropologist David MacDougall, and supported by the Australian National University and the Australian Research Council.
The girls made three short films that explore the textures of their everyday daily lives. They include: Our House by Saraswati Nebu, The Fun of Playing by Payel Sarkar and Avita Sarkar, and Inside Outside by Soma Chatterjee.
These films focus on play, study, the personal relationships the girls have with each other, their perspectives on the world around them, and their hopes for the future.
Eleven in Kolkata (52 mins) is in Bengali with English subtitles. It is distributed by Berkeley Media.
The films are also included as part of a compendium called The Child’s Eye, which brings together 12 short films by first-time filmmakers around India from the five-year project. The Child’s Eye is distributed by Ronin Films in Australia, and RAI in the UK.
A study guide was produced by ATOM to support the use of this film in Australian primary and secondary school curriculums.