Arya Rothe

In June 1975, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi suddenly declared what she called an internal ‘Emergency’, jailing her opponents and silencing the press. For 21 months, the world’s largest democracy was in the midst of a virtual dictatorship. Indi(r)a’s Emergency chronicles this dark period in India’s past and the lessons it holds for its future.

Somi is pregnant with her second child. A girl, she hopes. Together with her husband she prepares for this new phase of their parenthood. It means that their son has to go to school, but as an ex-Naxalite that is tough to achieve in contemporary India, where people like them are third-rate citizens. They lack the certificates and an opaque bureaucratic process doesn't help. Directors Isabella Rinaldi, Cristina Hanes and Arya Rothe of the NoCut Film Collective concentrate on Somi's close family ties, painting a portrait of ex-Naxalites in India. Once, Somi and her husband were communist rebels fighting for the rights of Indian tribes. However, to safeguard their family's welfare, they surrendered to the government in exchange for marginal compensation and simple accommodation.

Somi, an Indian ex-Maoist (Naxalite) rebel, faces a new battle as her efforts to build a home are stalled by the construction of an iron mine. Somi leads her community in resisting the violation of their land, forest and indigenous heritage, but this time without her rifle.

A sketch of a woman who is a regular in an old bar called Café Estádio in Lisbon. Quina has been visiting it for the past two decades because she believes that it is the only place that is a cure for her loneliness.