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Naman Ramachandran
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APM A villager maimed by a mining blast and his wife’s fight for compensation open up a story of exploitation, complicity and indigenous belief in “Veil of Dust,” the new project from “Rapture” director Dominic Sangma.
The project is part of the Asian Project Market, which runs within the Busan International Film Festival’s Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM).
When an explosion rips through the hills, 35-year-old Nengsal is dug out of the debris having lost a leg. His wife Ajin, 32, sets out to win compensation but runs into a system that thrives on exploiting people and keeping them quiet. The headman is compromised, an NGO in the area is pursuing its own politics, and the man running the mine discloses that Nengsal was never on the books, leaving workers like him invisible on their own land. Through the couple’s children, 12-year-old Kasanchi and 10-year-old Miklu, the film moves into a mystical realm rooted in indigenous belief, as healer Rengin leads Miklu through an unsettling ritual on a bird meant to “transfer” his father’s wound. When an unplanned blast kills a boy from the village, the elders take advance compensation to keep the peace. With Nengsal pleading with Ajin to end his pain and her fight for justice going nowhere, she turns to the rare herbs in her garden, which can both heal and harm.
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