Farida Pacha's My Name Is Salt, is a 2013 documentary film that revolves around a family producing salt in the Rann of Kutch, in Gujrat. Sanabhai Pagi with his wife, Devuben, harvest salt crystals that are left when the seas retreat, turning the coastline into a saline desert. Sanabhai has to extract salt from a brine that lies 70 feet below the surface and is forced to borrow money each season from the local salt merchant in order to buy diesel for his pump.
With the undying support of his wife, Sanabhai works very hard to turn a profit out of extracting and even his young children assist him before cycling off to their school. The family's work is depicted through long, quiet, and mesmeric shots. At the centre of this unending labour, is a prayer, an act of faith that resembles the miraculous salt crystals which emerge like diamonds.
About The Filmmaker: Farida Pacha
Farida Pacha obtained an 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 first feature-length documentary which won her the First Appearance Award at IDFA, Amsterdam.
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