Scenes From a Sketchbook
2016, 20 minutes
Synopsis:
The film is based on and inspired from the tinted brush drawings, sketches and some finished yet minimalistic works of the 18th century master miniature painter Nainsukh. Even in some of his finished paintings, the artist did not hide his corrections and afore-thoughts, which he allowed to show through a mostly untouched stark page. This film attempts the same.
On the Film:
“ I only saw Amit Dutta’s Scenes from a Sketchbook on the small screen, but it was just as spellbinding… Dutta is taking inspiration from a major historical figure in the arts—18th-century Indian painter Nainsukh, already the subject of Dutta’s eponymous 2010 feature, which this short augments and expands—to craft something mysterious and powerful, utilizing his refined tableau style for a reflexive investigation of art and representation: high (Indian) modernism, rendered in stunning visuals of exquisite sensuality. ”
– Christoph Huber, Curator, Austrian Film Museum in ‘Cinema Scope’
“ Scenes from a Sketchbook takes multiple stabs at dramatizing the paintings, playfully evoking the quixotic nature of Dutta’s enterprise as well as Nainsukh’s own habit of leaving traces of his process in the completed work. ”
– Max Goldberg, BAMPFA
One of the best short films of 2016
– Senses of Cinema Poll