In his absence, Ravana abducts Sita and demands that she submit to him on pain of death. I've been inventorying and organizing and folding and removing cardboard box shreds with a lint roller since they dumped everything on our doorstep. Sita Sings the Blues is an animated feature-length film from Nina Paley. Sita Sings the Blues is a 2008 animated feature film written, directed, produced and animated entirely by American artist Nina Paley (with the exception of some fight animation by Jake Friedman in the "Battle of Lanka" scene) primarily using 2D computer graphics. Then I was told I must see it. http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/license.html. Nov. 2010: Check out my new comic strip Mimi After Sita re-enters Mother Earth, Rama's eye tears up and he seems to have a conversion. Commons Attribution-Share Alike License, http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/license.html. Sita follows her husband Rama to the forest, and then remains devoted to him despite the horrible way he treats her, volunteering for an agni pariksha (trial-by-fire) to prove her purity when he questions her faithfulness to him. The plot joins the legend at the exile of the prince Rama from the kingdom of Ayodhya, at the behest of king Dasharatha's favorite queen, Kaikeyi. Prix Tournage for Best American Feature Film, Honorable Mention for Best Animated Feature, Grand Prix Z Télé, Grand Prize chosen by the public, "First Mention" (runner-up), Feature Films, Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You, Archie Award for Best First Time Director, Signis Award, Best Film of the Official Competition, Analysis of different variations of the Ramayana. "[28], The blog Sepia Mutiny reviewed the film noting that it has "lovely, highly stylized characters" and that Paley stayed "reasonably faithful" to the original story. "Sita's free: Landmark copyleft animated film is now licensed CC0", "Having a wonderful time, wish you could hear", "Nina Paley's Epic Breakups: Good Women Done Wrong in India". Reena Shah contributed the voice of the Sita character, in addition to choreographing and performing the dance sequences rotoscoped by Paley for the animation. [citation needed], Since its release, Sita Sings the Blues has attracted limited but consistent acclaim from critics. The modern, more personal element to the contemporary part of the story is narrated using the rough, energetic Squigglevision technique of traditional animation. After a month of no contact, he calls to inform his wife that the contract has been extended another year. The demon king Ravana, encouraged by his spiteful ogress sister, Shurpanakha, hears of Sita's beauty and determines to kidnap her. She accompanies Rama back to the palace and soon falls pregnant. Update And this is accepted as another avenue to empowerment in the film. beyond the scope of this license may be available at In addition to the central numbers recorded by Hanshaw, music was provided by Rohan, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Nik Phelps, Todd Michaelsen, and Reena Shah of the duo My Pet Dragon and by Pierre-Jean Duffour, composer and musician for the band Masaladosa. It intersperses events from the Ramayana, light-hearted but knowledgeable discussion of historical background by a trio of Indian shadow puppets, musical interludes voiced with tracks by Annette Hanshaw and scenes from the artist's own life. Sita Like all culture, it belongs to you already, but I am making it explicit with a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License updated 1-18-2011: CC-0 license ("Public Domain"). The opening title sequence to Nina Paley’s Sita Sings The Blues features Indian goddess Sita with the curves of planets in her animated beauty. I got a DVD in the mail, an animated film titled "Sita Sings the Blues." Tiburon International Film Festival, March 2009. An animated version of the epic Indian tale of Ramayana set to the 1920s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw. An animated ... Sita (voiced by Reena Shah) is a beautiful goddess who marries Rama (Debargo Sanyal), the heroic prince who is exiled for 14 years by his father. He sends a golden hind, Maricha, past their dwelling to distract Rama, who tries to impress Sita by hunting the hind into the woods. Sita Sings the Blues: Four Connecting Movies in One Sita Sings the Blues is an animated version of the epic Indian tale “Ramayana”. Who would think that it would be possible to bring together an old Indian story of heroes, battles and lovers together with blues music from the 20s, and that within a cartoon setting? Sita Sings the Blues. ← Sita Sings the Blues 4 Followers 684 Lines Get Embed Code. "[26], The New York Times also praised the film's ingenuity, commenting that "[it] evokes painting, collage, underground comic books, Mumbai musicals and 'Yellow Submarine' (for starters)," and praised Paley for her use of 2D animation: "A Pixar or DreamWorks extravaganza typically concludes with a phone book’s worth of technical credits. But this isn’t a normal movie, it is cut up into four different artistic styles that blend Sita Sings the Blues is a 2009 artistic retelling of the Ramayana. The Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told. Film Independent's Spirit Awards, Feb 2009, Cairo International Film Festival for Children, March 2009, Jury's Special Mention, Cairo, Egypt. Uncut and in full HD!http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/Sita Sings the Blues is a musical, animated personal interpretation of the Indian epic the Ramayana. "Sita Sings the Blues" was released in 2008 only after long negotiations with the copyright holders of the 80-year-old songs recorded by Annette Hanshaw. Sita, Rama's wife, determines to accompany her beloved husband, although the woods are dangerous and overrun with demons and evil spirits. Nina Paley is an animator whose husband moves to India, then dumps her by email. WNET broadcast the film on March 7, 2009. Her husband then accepts the offer of a six-month contract working in Trivandrum, India, and moves there alone to take up the position. It was an version of the epic Indian tale of Ramayana set to the 1920's jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw. This work is published from: They link episodes of the Ramayana with a lively, unscripted discussion of their personal impressions and knowledge of the epic. Uh, huh. Following the experience of almost having her film blocked from distribution, Nina Paley released it freely under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, and now devotes a significant portion of her time to free culture activism. Publication date 2008 Usage Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States Topics sita, blues, ramayana, annette hanshaw, nina paley Publisher www.sitasingstheblues.com. Distressed and disappointed by Rama's actions during her reunion with Rama, Sita prays to the earth goddess, Bhumi-Devi, to swallow her as final proof of her purity and devotion, and the prayer is duly answered, despite the pleas of Rama and Lakshman. Sita creates her identity in such a way that she is defined by her devotion to Rama. Paley took out a loan to license the music in early 2009. Paley plans to make money through voluntary payments, ancillary products, sponsorships, the aforementioned limited DVD sales, and possibly other methods.[1]. “Why should Sita die? A cornerstone of the distribution model is the "creator-endorsed" logo, developed by Paley in cooperation with QuestionCopyright.org. Other locations online: See the Sita Sites page for the complete, community-maintained list of where Sita Sings the Blues can be found online. It conveys the kind of restlessness inherent in the story and achieves a more light-hearted, universal tone with its simple, highly stylized renderings of character and environments. The full film can also be viewed in low-resolution streaming video on the web site for WNET, a PBS member station in New York City. [17] The freely downloaded files counted as "promotional copies" and were exempt from payments to the copyright holders of the songs.[1]. Technically, Sita Sings the Blues is a wonderful achievement. [8], The film uses a number of 1920s Annette Hanshaw recordings. Boulder International Film Festival, Feb 2009. on a work at www.sitasingstheblues.com.Permissions Directed by Nina Paley. : "http://www. "[32] However, in an interview with India-West, she did acknowledge that Lord Ram is not depicted well in the film. try { Now we all know that the Ramayana is no feminist masterpiece. The film interprets the Ramayana, a text considered sacred by many, from a rather modern point of view which despite being problematic, highlights through particular scenes the gender relations that remain even today, a pertinent issue. pageTracker._trackPageview(); x Embed video. The human experience is also involved, Sita is not just a Goddess nor is Rama not just portrayed as a God. document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); The background in each scene is usually static and the poses of each character are kept minimal, with movement achieved by simply transporting the character across the screen in its set position. "Sita Sings the Blues" is based on the Hindu epic "The Ramayana". A still from Sita Sings The Blues. Nina Paley has made this a very thought provoking movie. When the internet television service refused to meet these conditions due to a "No Bumpers" policy, Paley refused to accept their offer, citing her desire to uphold her principled opposition to DRM. Rama overhearing one of his subjects beating and ejecting an unfaithful consort (claiming he is no Rama to accept and forgive her unfaithfulness), he reluctantly orders his brother Lakshman to abandon Sita in the forest. Comparison of the epic poem and film leads to significant contradictions as the role of Sita in both illustrates a different story. See our usage guide for more details on embedding. I always imagine an audience of smart, compassionate people I’d enjoy spending time with. The history of womankind is a broken record as the same damn things keeping happening over and over again. It is an unconventional animated musical that was completely produced by one person over the course of 5 years. The slick, bold style – driven by digital animation software – is at odds with the somewhat rustic quality of the old musical recordings but allows close synchronization with the vocals. [10], Without a distributor, Nina Paley was unable to pay the approximately $220,000 that the copyright holders originally demanded. It intersperses events from the Ramayana, light-hearted but knowledgeable discussion of historical background by a trio of Indian shadow puppets, musical interludes voiced with tracks by Annette Hanshaw and scenes from the artist's own life. The production was largely completed by Nina Paley, with support from Jake Friedman in the "Battle of Lanka" scene,[7] primarily using 2D computer graphics and Flash Animation. [14][15], Due to terms of the music license, one limited DVD pressing of 4,999 copies was printed. [1], In July 2011, Nina Paley made a protest video regarding the film's deletion from YouTube in Germany due to what she regards as fraudulent take-down notice under the aegis of GEMA, Germany's major music and performance rights organization,[11] but which may be an instance of a larger on-going conflict regarding copyright and royalties between YouTube and GEMA. In April 2009, the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti started a petition calling for a complete ban on the movie and initiation of legal action against all those who have been involved in its production and marketing, believing its portrayal of the Ramayana to be offensive, with some members going so far as to call it "a derogatory act against the entire Hindu community. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 100% of critics have given the film a positive review, based on 32 reviews, with an 8.27/10 review average. As a loyal and devoted wife, Sita accompanies Rama. Sita Sings The Blues tells the story of Rama and Sita with a very interesting twist. Sings the Blues by Nina Sita She submits to a trial by fire, a test of her purity; upon throwing herself into the flames, she is immediately rescued by the gods, who all proclaim her devotion and fidelity. These recordings were protected by state commerce and business laws passed at the time in the absence of applicable federal laws and were never truly "public domain". Sita Sings the Blues is a very independent animated film that portrays a portion of the Hindu epic the Ramayana.It was created by Nina Paley, and the film is, remarkably, almost a solo effort. Distribution Project QuestionCopyright.org, var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? [24] The film also holds a score of 94 on the review aggregator website Metacritic based on 11 reviews, indicating "Universal acclaim". [4], The voices are clearly contemporary and somewhat irreverent, unlike their visualisations, which further establishes the theme of contrast between "ancient tragedy and modern comedy";[5] Chhaya Natak shadow theatre, for example, was commonly used in retellings of the Ramayana.[6]. Paley is licensed under a Creative Life is precious and beautiful. Sita Sings the Blues is a 2008 American animated musical romantic comedy-drama film written, directed, produced and animated by American artist Nina Paley. To sum up, "Sita Sings the Blues" is based on an adaptation of the the Ramayana, a Hindu epic, and some Hindus find the film offensive. The film uses a pared-down adaptation of the legend that retains many of its finer details while adopting a perspective sympathetic towards Sita; in the director's words, the film is "a tale of truth, justice and a woman’s cry for equal treatment."[2]. Nina Paley’s film “Sita Sings the Blues” reveals the culture and values conveying a message of art across cultures and generations. Although anyone is free to distribute the film, distributors who do so while giving a part of the profits to the artist can get the artist's endorsement and use the "creator-endorsed" logo on their promotional materials. Original Score: 3.5/4 Ottawa International Animation Festival, Sept. 2008. "[27], Although The Hollywood Reporter declared the film to be "a rather rarified effort that will probably appeal more to adults than to children," it described it as "charming" and commented that, "Arriving amidst a tidal wave of overblown and frequently charmless big studio efforts, "Sita Sings the Blues" is a welcome reminder that when it comes to animation bigger isn't necessarily better. Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley. To the extent possible under law, The site's consensus reads: "A tour de force for filmmaker Nina Paley, Sita Sings the Blues gives the Ramayana its animated due with a visually vibrant, dazzlingly imaginative triumph". "Sita Sings the Blues" is based on the Hindu epic "The Ramayana". [33], In April 2009, the film inspired a Bangkok high fashion line designed by Roj Singhakul, titled "Sita Sings the Blues".[34]. & Eunice! Also, it features three cleverly interwoven segments, involving unconditional love and being rejected by a soul mate. Paley estimated her total hours of work on the film to 9,360 and calculated she needed 6,240 people to see the 1.5-hour long film to make an "attention profit". The movie starts with the goddess Lakshmi (who will incarnate herself in Sita) massaging the feet of Vishnu. During these sections, the ideas and contradictions raised over the course of the puppets' discussions are visualized in animated photographic compositions in the background. In the film, they serve as a more traditional style of dramatic narrative, although the dialogue is frequently ironic, inappropriately modern, or otherwise humorous. Nov. 2010: Check out my new comic strip, Creative It should be used to create more life. It has achieved wide levels of success, both commercially and in press, without the help of traditional press methods or large studio backing. [16] The film was released for free download starting in early March, 2009 "at all resolutions, including broadcast-quality, HD and film-quality image sequences", at the time licensed under "CC-BY-SA". "); Hindu groups protest the screening of 'Sita Sings the Blues' - The Times of India, A Filmmaker’s ‘Blues’ Prompts Traditionalists To See Red, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sita_Sings_the_Blues&oldid=1015335972, Annecy Cristal for a Feature Film winners, Articles with dead external links from October 2015, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2020, Articles with dead external links from July 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Athens International Film Festival, Sept. 2008, Best Script Award, Greece. Ms. Paley did everything in “Sita” — an amazingly eclectic, 82-minute tour de force — by herself. Showing all 3 items Jump to: Summaries (2) Synopsis (1) Summaries. Episodes set to certain songs performed by jazz singer Annette Hanshaw are visualized, with Sita as the singing performer, using the strikingly modern technique of vector graphic animation. [12][13], On January 18, 2013, Paley announced that she has changed the Creative Commons license for the film from "CC-BY-SA" (the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-alike 3.0 Unported license) to "CC-0" (public domain); she made the ownership rights change in response to the continual red tape of rights procurement, even under the share-alike license. Episodes with dialogue from the Ramayana are enacted using painted figures of the characters in profile, which strongly resemble the 18th-century Indian tradition of Rajput painting. Traditionally the Ramayana was a religious myth that mainly focused on the values of dharma; however, Nina Paley in Sita Sings the Blues seems to focus more on the relationship of Sita and Rama while telling the story from Sita’s point of view. DVD VERSION! Sita Sings the Blues is an animated movie made a Jewish woman reflecting on a difficult break up through the story of Sita and Rama from the Ramayana. The film can also be rented via DVD on Netflix as of March 17, 2010. Sad and alone, she stays in New York, finding comfort in a new cat and her study of the Ramayana. It is astonishingly original. [18][19] Exclusive right to distribute 35mm and HDCam prints of the film is split between GKIDS[20] for all theaters East of the Mississippi River, and Shadow Distribution[21] for all theaters west of the Mississippi River. [22] When asked by a media provider on behalf of Netflix in April 2010 if she would also offer the film via the company's on-demand streaming service in exchange for a limited amount of money, Paley requested that the film be streamed either DRM-free or with an addendum telling viewers where the film was available for download. An animated version of the epic Indian tale of Ramayana set to the 1920s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw. Having earned the right to any single favor by saving the Dasharatha's life, Kaikeyi attempts to secure her own son's inheritance over the eldest and favorite, Rama, by ordering him banished from the court. United States. Sita Sings the Blues is a 2009 artistic retelling of the Ramayana. Sita Sings the Blues (2008) Plot. [29], The film has drawn controversy from a number of sides. The film deftly weaves together the Indian Ramayana, the heartbreaking failure of Paley’s own marriage, and the 1920s jazz of Annette Hanshaw. A while later, Nina flies to a meeting in New York, where she receives a brief e-mail from her husband telling her that their relationship is over.