Shape of Momo
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Theatrical Screenings
Kinoteka 4
Kinoteka 3
Online Availability
Additional Materials
Film description
No other culture holds quite as ambivalent an attitude towards womanhood as Hindu culture. On the one hand, a woman is seen as the incarnation of shakti – divine energy – and the personification of the Great Goddess; on the other, she remains entirely subordinate to men. A woman is expected to be like a momo dumpling: beautifully formed with a neatly contained filling. Just as dough can be shaped at will, society seeks to mould women according to a strict blueprint – one set by the archetypes of goddesses and epic heroines, with Sita at the forefront. Meanwhile, Bishnu returns from Delhi to her family home in Sikkim, nestled at the foot of the Himalayas. Reentering a household of women, she brings with her a metropolitan rebellion against the patriarchal norms that remain firmly entrenched in the provinces. She is determined to break a multi-generational streak of women who meekly surrendered to tradition, raised to believe that giving birth to a girl was the result of a curse.
In her feature directorial debut, Tribeny Rai paints a male-dominated world where women must constantly negotiate the boundaries of their own freedom and independence. It is an environment as harsh as the Himalayan landscape Bishnu's family inhabits – where the breathtaking beauty of the surrounding mountains inspires awe, yet simultaneously breeds a suffocating sense of isolation, both literal and metaphorical.
text:
Blanka K. Dżugaj
Tribeny Rai
Tribeni Rai initially dreamed of pursuing a career in journalism before becoming an independent director and screenwriter. She hails from Sikkim, a state in north-eastern India, and completed her studies in film direction and screenwriting at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute in Kolkata, West Bengal – one of India's premier national film schools. Her work focuses primarily on female experiences and life in the Eastern Himalayan region.
2015 Yathawat / As It Is (short)
2025 Kształt momo / Chhora Jesto / Shape of Momo

