Kathleen Man's curious film mixes straightforward documentary with fictional narrative techniques to examine the subject of child sex slave trafficking between Nepal and India. Sita, A Girl from Jambu initially takes a nonfiction look at a street theater performance—featuring young girls from a Nepalese child protection agency—that tells the tragic story of a village child lured from her rural home into enslavement in a Mumbai brothel. The film then abruptly switches to a fictional narrative, shot on location in rural Nepal, and continues to cut back and forth between the nonfiction and fiction formats. The result is a somewhat confusing hybrid that shortchanges the documentary material about the street performers and the activities of the child protection agency, while at the same time incorporating a narrative drama that feels sketchy, with unconvincing performances from a nonprofessional cast. An ambitious but ultimately disappointing production, this is not a necessary purchase. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)
Sita, A Girl from Jambu
(2007) 47 min. In Nepali w/English subtitles. DVD: $85: public libraries; $265: colleges & universities. Salmon Pictures (dist. by New Day Films). PPR. ISBN: 978-1-57448-224-9. Volume 23, Issue 4
Sita, A Girl from Jambu
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