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Ganges: River to Heaven USA-India/2004/77 min/Beta SP 
Director: Gayle Ferraro In the city of Varanasi, the power of Ganga, the Hindu mother-goddess of the Ganges, is strongest. Each dawn she calls her children to the ghats, the steps leading down to the water's edge. The young and strong purify themselves in Ganga's polluted waters. The old and the infirm, too weak for rituals, wait for death. In time, Ganga carries their souls, released from the bondage of reincarnation, to heaven. Once privy only to the dead and those who mourned them, the final journey of the devout Hindu is the subject of, Ganges: River to Heaven. Filmed in a hospice for the dying the film follows four families' struggle to grant a loved one's final wish to go to heaven. The documentary investigates the inextricable bond between a river and its people with unparalleled intimacy and depth. From the ghat workers gathering wood for the next cremation, to the chemists gathering water samples for contamination testing, each perspective sheds new light on an evolving society and its unwavering veneration of the Ganges. Hindi/Nepali/English (English subtitles) Q&A with director Gayle Ferraro Presented by the Yogi Times Print Source: |