A Rifle and a Bag is a unique film shot in strange circumstances. The film follows the lives of two surrendered Naxalites as they navigate a world they had vowed to change.
Somi and Sukhram aren't your average country pair. They have a polite and even-handed relationship. By a nighttime woodland fire, they laugh, argue intelligently, and have long conversations. Their status as surrendered Naxalites, soldiers in a Mao-inspired guerilla rebel movement that has fought the Indian state for tribal rights for half a century, distinguishes them.
They became undocumented after they surrendered. Living on the fringes, they must negotiate a restrictive bureaucracy in order to secure a tribal caste certificate and consequently an education for their young son, who is his last hope for a future free of the family's reputation. Somi and her husband Sukhram have given up their arms in order to raise their two sons in a village in central India. Yet, the non-revolutionary path makes them doubt that they made the correct choice.
Three female directors, one of whom is Indian, directed the picture. Arya Rothe, Cristina Hanes, and Isabella Rinaldi are graduates of the Doc Nomads Erasmus Mundus Joint master’s degree in Documentary Filmmaking, which takes place at universities in Portugal, Hungary, and Belgium. Rothe hails from India, whereas Hanes hails from Romania, and Rinaldi hails from Italy.
The movie depicts how Somi and Sukhram attempt to earn a living, secure their oldest son's schooling and obtain the correct caste/tribal certificate that will smooth their children's futures are depicted in A Rifle and a Bag, an impressionistic and compassionate depiction. The 89-minute documentary had its world premiere in India at the Dharamshala International Film Festival's online edition.
A picture of a couple trying to carve out the second chapter of their lives on its embers. They're particularly taken with the striking Somi, who depicts her calculated, conflicted shift as a citizen rather than the unmaking of her inner revolutionary. We sympathize with wife and husband as well-rounded persons with relatable concerns and wants thanks to resonant imagery and leisurely clarity in frames. The film, which won a Special Mention at the Rotterdam Film Festival in 2020, denies common misconceptions about Naxalites while highlighting yet another form of social exclusion in India.
A Rifle and a Bag is a powerful documentary about people who are compelled to give up their values in order to pursue their dreams.