TRIBECA FILM FEST 2014: TOMORROW WE DISAPPEAR

BY LIZ WHITTEMORE

From late 2008 to 2009, I was living abroad in Hyderabad, India. My husband, at the time my boyfriend, had been hired by a microfinance company in under 24 hrs. He took me on a walk in Prospect Park and told me that he was moving to India. Whether he thought it was a good idea or not, I was coming with him. In TOMORROW WE DISAPPEAR, directors Jim Goldblum and Adam M Weber bring to the forefront a problem that the slums of India have been experiencing in its economic boom and chase of Western culture. Bulldozing entire communities has become a normal occurrence while the government pursues massive high rise buildings and malls. The problem in India is class warfare like nothing we can even imagine in the United States. There is no true middle class. Their divide between slums and those who live in massive mansions are extraordinarily wide.

This documentary focuses on one community in particular, The Kathputli Colony. In New Delhi, this is where the artists live. Since the 70’s, magicians, acrobats, puppeteers and the like, create and entertain to make money in order to feed their families. In 2011, the government stepped in and told these people that they were taking the land. New high tech apartments and a giant mall would be going up and they had no place to go. They attempt to fight by making a video to send to the census, but having personally witnessed the nonfunctioning, nepotism ridden order of that world, I knew it would inevitably be useless. The people living in the colony hold national awards for representing India’s beautiful and ancient culture, yet they are thrown to the side for money.

The cinematography is stunning. The bright colors of walls and hanging laundry consume the screen. Mixed with local music and the voices of the people, the filmmakers allow us into the emotional minds of each subject. Tomorrow We Disappear made me yearn to return to a land that, at the time, gave me heartache, headache, and inspiration, all at once.

VERDICT: MUST SEE

Directed By: Jim Goldblum and Adam M Weber Language: Hindi with English Subtitles Runtime: 80 mi. For Tribeca Tickets and more info: TICKETS

BOTTOM LINE: Tomorrow We Disappear will leave you frustrated, engrossed, wowed and thankful that you reside in a place where you feel safe to express your views and know that someone will hear and respect them.