Documentary series · NTR · NPO 2
Verlossing in Varanasi
Three-part series
A three-part series in which presenter Narsingh Balwantsingh travels to Varanasi in India to learn about impermanence and death.
Broadcast on NPO 2 by the NTR.
Writing, directing, shooting, editing
For this production we wrote, directed, photographed and edited.
Alongside Kester Dixon’s camerawork we took care of the dreamlike shots: the mist over the Ganges, the fire, the stilled faces.
Manikarnika Ghat
the ‘burning ghat’
Throughout India the banks of the Ganges are used for public cremations. Varanasi tops them all: some 200 bodies a day are brought there from across the region.
Thanks to the great collaboration with the NTR we were given permission to film this unique place, and its rituals, from very close by.
The keepers of the fire
At the ghats the cremation fire has traditionally been tended by the Doms, a community that has done this work for generations.
We filmed the people behind the rituals up close, not as spectacle, but with attention to who they are.
Verlossing in Varanasi is not the obvious freak show about people who burn their dead in public, but an honest and warm document.Marcel Althuisius · de Volkskrant
Narsingh meets Baba Ji
Mumukshu Bhavan
Presenter Narsingh Balwantsingh travels to Varanasi to learn about impermanence and death. Along the way he meets the people for whom the rituals by the river are daily work, and those who come to spend their last days there.
Production stills
Besides filming, Greetje Mulder photographed on set in Varanasi: the people by the river, the ghats in the morning mist, and the crew at work.
More stills & BTS →
What the press wrote
“Balwantsingh proves the perfect guide: curious, respectful and full of wonder, without becoming hysterical.”de Volkskrant
“Explosions of colour, fire, mist, stilled faces, constantly shifting in tempo.”TV Blik · 8/10
“The impressive images: there is a still-life-like beauty in almost every shot.”TV Blik
“The makers have succeeded in capturing the ritual cremations in the holy Indian city from very close by. The series is a feast for the eyes.”Joris Linssen · NCRV-gids ↗
Credits
- Directing and editing
- Rogier van der Voort
- Cinematography
- Kester Dixon
- Sound
- Bert van den Dungen
- Photography and 2nd camera
- Greetje Mulder
- Sound post-production
- Mark Meeuwis
- Colour grading
- Noortje Muller
- Production manager
- Saskia Hesseling
- Production
- Lotte Rijnsent
- Translation
- Pranitha
- Interpreter
- Anupama Jain
- Line producer
- Frans Jennekens
- Editor-in-chief NTR
- Erik Hogenboom
Next filmTruus’ Children →