Port Jefferson Documentary Series – "India Untouched: Stories of a People Apart"

This documentary is the most comprehensive look at the "untouchables" in India. Motivated by ancient religious edicts, no amount of governmental encouragement has been able to stem the tragic custom that separates human beings according to their birth. Those considered untouchable suffer more than isolation, they are forced to fulfill menial tasks in their communities, drink from separate containers, remove their shoes... on the street as a sign of respect and perform or exhibit many other outward signs of their perceived inferiority. While the media projects a positive image of a democratic India, filmmaker Stalin K spends four years traveling the country to expose the continued oppression of the Dalits, "the broken people," in a wide variety of communities, including Sikhs, Christians and Muslims.

The Port Jefferson Documentary Series, sponsored by the Greater Port Jefferson and Northern Brookhaven Arts Council, brings the directors, stars, or experts for each film into the theater for an up-close and personal question and answer session. The guest speakers for this film will be Professor S.N. Sridhar, Professor of Linguistics and India Studies and Director of the Center for India Studies at Stony Brook University and Professor Smita Narula, Associate Professor of Clinical Law, International Human Rights Clinic and Faculty Director, Center for Human Rights and Global Justice,New York University School of Law

Running time: 109 min.
India, 2007
Language: Hindi, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu,
Malayalm with English sub-titles
Director: Stalin K