''Desperately Seeking Helen'' is a 1998 documentary by

Eisha Marjara Eisha Marjara is a Canadian film director and writer. With a background in photography, Marjara has written and directed several award-winning films, including the feature documentary '' Desperately Seeking Helen'' (1998) and ''The Incredible Shrin ...

, produced by the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary fi ...

. It documents the life of the

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" ...

star

Helen Helen may refer to: People * Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world * Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress * Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Places * Helen, ...

and also discusses Marjara's process of self-discovery.Ali, Firdaus.
In search of a vamp

. ''

Rediff Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City. , it had more than 300 e ...

''. April 24, 2000. Retrieved on November 22, 2014. Marjara liked Helen as a child, and Marjara stated "Helen is a conduit into my childhood — my relationship with my mother, my struggle with anorexia and the Air India disaster which took the lives of my mother and sister."Black, Barbara.
Air India disaster hit Concordia hard

Archive
. ''Concordia's Thursday Report''. April 21, 2005. Volume 29, No. 14. Retrieved on November 22, 2014. Jerry Pinto, author of ''Helen: The Life and Times of an H-bomb'', wrote that the film "is as much about Eisha Marjara's perception of Helen as it is about Helen." ''Desperately Seeking Helen'' uses Hindi music. The film covers the complications in the relationship between Marjara and her mother,Jones, D.B. "Brave New Film Board". In: Beard, William and Jerry White (editors). ''North of Everything: English-Canadian Cinema Since 1980''.

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...

, 2002. , 9780888643902. Start: p
19
CITED: p
36
Devinder.Air India 182 Press Kit

Archive
. ''Air India 182'' (film) official website. p. 11/12. Retrieved on October 22, 2014. Marjara had the perception that her mother was unable to balance the culture of Canada against that of India, and Devinder was more feminine and traditional compared to her daughter. The film also discusses the 1985

Air India Flight 182 Air India Flight 182 was an Air India flight operating on the Montreal–London–Delhi–Bombay route. On 23 June 1985, it was operated using Boeing 747-237B registered ''VT-EFO''. It disintegrated in mid-air en route from Montreal to Lond ...

bombing,Bontempo, Mirella.
The Other English-Canadian film: Indo-Canadian cinema

Archive
. ''Montreal Serai''. July 27, 2012. Retrieved on November 22, 2014. which ultimately killed Davinder along with Seema, one of Marjara's sisters. D.B. Jones, the author of "Brave New Film Board," wrote that the filmmaker "verges on self-pity and often seems self-absorbed, but she can also be brutally honest about herself." Sabeena Gadihoke, the author of "Secrets and Inner Voices: The Self and Subjectivity in Contemporary Indian Documentary," wrote that the "deeply personal" film "did not easily fit popular conceptions of documentary" since it had a "fictive structure in which the filmmaker staged her own body" as well as "reflexive use of humor" and "whimsy".Gadihoke, Sabeena. "Secrets and Inner Voices: The Self and Subjectivity in Contemporary Indian Documentary." In: Lebow, Lisa (editor). ''The Cinema of Me: Self and Subjectivity in First-Person Documentary Film'' (Nonfictions series).

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fie ...

, August 13, 2013. , 9780231850162. Google Book
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Angela Failler argued that the film was what had been described as a "counter-memorial" of the

disaster.

Background

The

National Film Board The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary fi ...

selected Marjara to make a film on the

disaster in 1994. She did research by visiting

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River across from the city of ...

and taking one trip to India. The title is a reference to the 1985 film ''

Desperately Seeking Susan ''Desperately Seeking Susan'' is a 1985 American comedy-drama film directed by Susan Seidelman and starring Rosanna Arquette, Aidan Quinn and Madonna. Set in New York City, the plot involves the interaction between two women – a bored housew ...

''. Marjara dedicated her film to Air India Flight 182 victims, including Davinder and Seema.

Release and reception

The film's first screening in India was during the

Mumbai International Film Festival The Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films (MIFF) is a festival organized in the city of Mumbai (formerly Bombay) by the Films Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. It ...

(MIFF).Gadihoke, Sabeena. "Secrets and Inner Voices: The Self and Subjectivity in Contemporary Indian Documentary." In: Lebow, Lisa (editor). ''The Cinema of Me: Self and Subjectivity in First-Person Documentary Film'' (Nonfictions series).

, August 13, 2013. , 9780231850162. Google Book
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It was ranked as the "Theater Critic's Choice" in the ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by ...

'' in 1999. Firdaus Ali of

wrote that the film received "rave reviews". Gadihoke stated that in India the film received some criticism due to a perception that it was "self-absorbed"; Gadihoke argued that this was because the film used "strategies unfamiliar to documentary discourse in India at the time." It earned a Special Mention from Planet Television at the 2000

Internationales Dokumentarfilmfestival München The International Documentary Film Festival Munich (Internationales Dokumentarfilmfestival München e.V. – DOK.fest München for short) has been held annually in Munich, Germany since 1985. Since 2001 it has been organised by the association ''In ...

. At the 1999

Locarno Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, sh ...

, it won the prestigious SRG SSR Award and the Silver Pardino - Leopards of Tomorrow award.

References

External links

*
Desperately Seeking Helen

. ''

Semaine de la critique Critics' Week (french: link=no, Semaine de la critique), until 2008 called International Critics' Week ('), is a parallel section to the Cannes Film Festival organized by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics. It was created in 1962 after the Fre ...

'' (Locarno Film Festival).
Article on "Desperately seeking Helen"
*Ali, Firdaus.

. ''

''. April 24, 2000.
Marjara and "Desperately seeking Helen" at the NFB Canada
*http://www.eng.fju.edu.tw/canada/class/g_seeking_helen.ppt- https://www.webcitation.org/6UGpwhsxA?url= {{Air India Flight 182 1998 films 1998 documentary films National Film Board of Canada documentaries Films directed by Eisha Marjara Air India Flight 182 Autobiographical documentary films Documentary films about disasters Films about Bollywood Salim Khan family Films about Indian Canadians Films about terrorism in India 1990s Canadian films

Background

Release and reception

References

Further reading

External links