Shooting Water
A Memoir of Second Chances, Family, and Filmmaking
by Devyani Saltzman
List Price: $14.95
Pages: 304
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781557047854
Publisher: Newmarket Press
Devyani Saltzman received a degree in Human Sciences at Oxford University. She grew up on film and television sets, and was the recipient of the Young Professionals International Internship grant to work on a feature-length documentary in India. She works as a photojournalist and freelance writer, and is based in Toronto, Canada.
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Q: At the age of eleven, when your parents divorced, you were given the difficult choice of picking the parent with whom you'd live. After choosing your father, things were never the same with your mother. Would you still make the same choice if you had it to do all over again? Do you still feel trapped between two cultures? You picked your father because he felt like the "safe" choice. What did you mean?
DS:I made the choice that felt right at the time. I needed to be with my father during those years, and now I actually share a home with my mother when we're both in Toronto. They have both given me very different things as parents, united by their common gift of unconditional love. My father has always offered guidance about life choices -- where to go to school, how to execute my dreams. My mother is the intellectual. She's the one who brings me new books, introduces me to new movies. The choice actually balanced out in the end. If anything, I wish I hadn't had to choose. If they had been able to share custody in an amiable way.
I no longer feel trapped between two cultures. I feel enriched by two cultures. The sense of displacement has been superseded by feeling fortunate to have a complex heritage. I think being both Indian and Jewish, Canadian, but educated in England, has made me a writer. It's given me a unique perspective from which to view the world. The first interview I conducted was with Pico Iyer. We talked about being mongrels (he is of Indian descent, educated in England and now lives in Japan). I can relate to that. When he wrote The Global Soul: Jet Lag, Shopping Malls, and the Search for Home I was inspired by the title. I feel more and more of us come from mixed backgrounds, or at least have ties to multiple homes. I'd like to think that's the future for humanity, rising above the petty differences of religion, race and nationality. A collection of global souls.
Q: At Oxford, you studied anthropology. Why not film or photography? Did your job as still photographer on the production influence you to pursue it as a career? How are the two jobs similar? Did working on Water ever make you consider a career in filmmaking?
DS:I studied anthropology, and sociology, because I wanted to learn more about life before learning the craft of photography, filmmaking or writing. I needed knowledge about the subjects which interested me -- people and culture. I went into the social sciences knowing that I wanted to eventually use my education in a creative field. It worked out perfectly. Shooting Water allowed me to take ideas from social anthropology and work them into a literary form.
In terms of photography, my interest probably began with my photojournalist uncle, Dilip Mehta. I grew up seeing his coverage of the Bhopal Gas tragedy, a Time Magazine cover he shot in Russia, a National Geographic cover of a young Rajasthani boy with his camel. Shooting the stills for Water showed me that I could work as a photographer. But I must admit, I feel more like a writer. I've grown up with a super photojournalist in the family, so I know what it takes. The beauty of photography and filmmaking, for me, is the frame. It's looking at life encapsulated, intensified. I think that's the similarity between the two mediums. Despite working on Water, I've never been interested in being a filmmaker. If anything, it would be documentaries.
Q: It must have been amazing to be in India at the beginning of a new millennium, to hear the Dalai Lama speak. What kind of impact did that have on you?
DS:Being in India on the cusp of the millennium felt incredibly symbolic. It was the first time I was going to spend a significant portion of time with my mom, and it would be the final installment of her Elements Trilogy. There was a palpable excitement among us. What was ironic about the Dalai Lama's speech was his focus on the importance of non-violence in social change. Only a few weeks later the production was violently shut down by the Hindu right. I wish the spirit of that day, and of his speech, had extended throughout our experience in North India.
Q: When the protesting started, did you fear for your and your mother's safety? Did you ever doubt that Water would get made? How did the experience of working so hard on the film, seeing it be shut down and then rising again, like a phoenix from the ashes, affect you?
DS:I was very afraid when the protesting began. Firstly, I had never encountered group demonstrations, or politically motivated violence. My father had worked in the Civil Rights movement in Mississippi, for voter registration. He had told me stories about being on the ground for a cause and encountering violent opposition (he was jailed for his involvement), but I had never experienced it myself. It was terrifying to see my mom's effigy being burned. I remember telling her to be careful when she left for West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh to scout alternative locations. I was afraid she would be targeted.
In some strange way I didn't doubt that Water would eventually be made. In the book I reproduced an email I wrote my father just before we had to leave Benares. In it I stated that I knew Water would be made. It was a feeling. But the journey to get there was like a rebirth for both my mom and me. It forced me, and her, to grow stronger. I think the film we made in Sri Lanka is probably purer than the original. It's parred down, more focused. We came to it with a greater determination that didn't exist in 1999.
Q: In recent times, Bollywood films, such as Bride & Prejudice and your mother's own, Bollywood/Hollywood, have enjoyed great success. To what or to whom do you credit for this recent popularity?
DS:India is everywhere. Through the nation itself and the diaspora, there has been an incredible awareness of food, language, dress, religion, politics, and India's multiple cultures. I think the success of films which portray those worlds is directly related to a thirst to know more about the country by non-Indians, and an equal desire to see representations of self by Indians at home and abroad. What I love about films like Bend it Like Beckham, Bollywood/Hollywood and books like Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake is that they show the challenges of a people evolving in multiple contexts -- Britain, Canada, the U.S.
Q: How does Water differ from Bollywood films, and where does it fit in tradition of Indian films?
DS:Water is just not as glamourous as most Bollywood films today. It's similar to the difference between independent American cinema, the films of John Sayles for example, and mainstream Hollywood. Water fits more in the tradition of the humanist cinema of Bengali director Satyajit Ray. I grew up with Ray's Apu Trilogy, shot in the 1950s in black and white. The trilogy is a beautiful portrait of a young man growing up between rural Bengal and the state capital of Calcutta. My mom had the pleasure of meeting Ray on set towards the end of his life. I'm jealous.
Q: What were the major differences (apart from location) in the production of Water when the filming first began in 2000 and when it was finally finished four years later? How were you different?
DS:I think Water, in its reincarnation, is a much cleaner film. My mom spent a lot of time cutting down dialogue, intending the images and character performances to speak for themselves. The shoot was also free to be a film shoot, not a political game. We could focus on the art of the film during our tight 45 day shoot. That was the big difference, along with the change in cast.
By the time I returned to work on the film, I'd like to think I had grown as a person. Oxford had forced me to be on my own, to forge my own life independent of my parents' homes. I was more self-sufficient, a little less naive to how politics and art can intercede.
Q: With the benefit of hindsight, how do you feel about your relationship with Vikram? Would you do anything different, with respect to that relationship?
DS:I will always treasure my relationship with Vikram. I'd like to believe that one doesn't regret first love. He introduced me to a lot of things that I will always carry with me: Hindi music, the films of Guru Dutt, Bombay. Even though it wasn't requited, I can hold those moments in memory. I would have done nothing differently in our time together.
Q: Shooting wrapped before the tsunami hit in December of 2004. Do you know if anyone involved in the production was affected? Have you visited the region since the tsunami?
DS:It was very unfortunate. The tsunami hit a lot of the locations we were connected with south of Colombo, including of course, Galle (where little Sarala is from). Tragically, one of the set assistant's little baby was lost, he and his wife were injured. His name is Rizwi. As far as we know, most of the people we lived and worked with were not injured during the tsunami. I do believe a number of homes were affected. I haven't had the opportunity to visit the region since we wrapped in June, 2004.
Q: What new things did you learn about your mother from observing her on the set? How is your relationship with your mother today?
DS:I learned about the beauty of determination. When my mom works she enters another space, especially when she's discussing a scene or rehearsing with her actors. It was a side of her I'd never seen. And the fact that the film did get made was really a testament to both her and producer David Hamilton's tenacity. When Key Porter Books, my Canadian publisher, encouraged me to write the book I approached the task with the same determination I saw in her. Today, we share a home in Toronto. It's wonderful to have a successfully reconstructed relationship and be free to enjoy the best in each other. I feel lucky we worked at this early on. We watch a lot of movies, cook and have fun.
Q: As of January 2006, Water didn't have an Indian distributor. Is this still the case? What are your hopes for this film as it released in the U.S. in April 2006? Is there anything about your experience on set that you would change now?
DS:At the moment, Water is still without Indian distribution. The film is about to come out in Australia and then in the U.S., on April 28th. I hope the film does what all good art should do, open the doors to an unknown world, challenge people's views of society and, hopefully, inspire. I also think women's rights, both in the first and third worlds, is paramount. If a story about Hindu widows can inspire people to learn more, and challenge the conditions some of these women live in, it's a start.
Q: What's next for you? Will you work on any of your mother's future films?
DS:I'm working on my first novel. It also balances an intensely personal thread with a wider political story. I've always wanted to be a writer, ever since I was 17 and read Philip Gourevitch's non-fiction book on Rwanda "We Wish to Inform you that Tomorrow We Will be Killed with our Families": Stories from Rwanda. At this moment, I'll continue to work with words. I'd love to visit my mom on set, and always help out. But for now we're following our paths through different mediums.
Q: You used a line from Patrick Kavanaugh's Raglan Road at the beginning of your book: "Let grief be a fallen leaf, At the dawning of the day..." How did this sum up your experiences on Water?
DS:To move forward, whether in a film or in a relationship, one must let go of past pain and face the new day.
Excerpted from Shooting Water © Copyright 2009 by Devyani Saltzman. Reprinted with permission by Newmarket Press. All rights reserved.
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