Foreign film, familiar theme
Its setting is halfway around the world and the main characters are stay-at-home families, but otherwise the quest for social reform theme in the 21-minute award-winning Indian film (2007 Madurai Film Festival) The Lost Water sounds like a modern-day Grapes of Wrath.
The setting is in Gujarat, India which produces 73% of India's salt. The producers, social reformers all, aim at exposing the plight of salt workers in Gujarat's Little Rann of Kutch (LRK) area. The promo explains:
The government of Gujarat has consistently ignored the LRK area. The salt workers of LRK, known as Agariyas, are predominantly from the Koli and Chuvaliya Koli tribes. As bonded laborers, they are not only victims of wage discrimination, they are endure serious physical and mental health hazards due to the dangerous nature of their work. Kharaghoda village itself is home to 437 widows. Working in extreme temperatures without any protective gear, many Agariyas suffer major health complications, including blindness and skin damage due to unprotected exposure to salt. Living in abject poverty, Agariyas now face water scarcity as well as malnutrition since green vegetables are not available in this area.The LRK area has recently been designated as a wildlife sanctuary for the threatened Indian Wild Donkey, making salt workers and salt production in LRK now illegal. Agariyas have been forced by government authorities to look outside the LRK for work, now struggling for both their ancestors' land and their livelihood.
