Joy! Sita Sings the Blues is streaming, free, online!
The indie animated sensation blends '20s jazz music from Annette Hanshaw, the writer/director/animator Nina Paley's autobiographical story of divorce, and the complicated saga of Sita and Rama from the Ramayana. It's a brisk 82 minutes, covering everything from a monkeyman army to getting dumped by e-mail, and the inventively stylish animation manages to be both evocative and lovely.
Sita Sings the Blues has been a festival darling, but the licensing fees for Hanshaw's music have been prohibitively expensive, essentially ruining the film's chance of distribution. But copyright law is a many-headed beast, so public television stations can air the film without violating it -- which is how Sita is going to find its widest audience, starting with New York–area airings next month.
No comments:
Post a Comment