This film was created as part of an essay filmmaking workshop at Museum of Art and Photography (MAP) Bangalore in February 2025, conducted by Falana Films in collaboration with the museum. The two-weekend workshop introduced participants to the essay film format and encouraged them to work with both personal archives and artworks from MAP’s Visible/Invisible exhibition.

The assigned theme for this project was “Home and Away: Memory, Migration and Nostalgia.” Responding to the prompt involved developing a script, selecting archival material, shaping a visual language, and building a clear narrative structure. The team worked through storyboarding, organising audio and visual layers, and experimenting with ways to weave personal memory with found material. Stop motion was chosen for the film’s visual approach, with the art direction, stop motion and shooting art carried out by Sanjana along with Arya, while the other team members (Ranjana and Clarence) worked on scripting, sound and additional footage. Editing support was provided by Anoushka from Falana Films, who helped guide the final structure.

As a first introduction to essay filmmaking, the process opened up an unexpected and exciting medium for me to explore.