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| Acclaimed film director/writer and 2003 Harvard Arts Medal recipient Mira Nair '79 talked with Arts First parade grand marshal John Lithgow '67 and members of the Harvard community in Sanders Theatre on Saturday, May 3. (Staff photos by Ruby Arguilla) |
The story of a storyteller's life
Honored at Arts First, Indian film director Mira Nair '79 brings her vision back to Harvard
Gazette Staff
Indian film director Mira Nair '79 spoke Saturday (May 3) to a capacity Sanders Theatre audience, discussing her early struggles as a documentary filmmaker, the making of her acclaimed fiction films, her efforts to help Indian street children, and her artistic philosophy.
The recipient of the 2003 Harvard Arts Medal, Nair was the guest of honor at an Office for the Arts "Learning From Performers" event. Actor John Lithgow '67 questioned the director about her life and work. "One of my mantras is that if we don't tell our own stories, nobody else will tell them," Nair said.
Nair has clearly followed this advice in her own career. After graduating from Harvard with a degree in Visual and Environmental Studies (VES), she went to New York, where she worked as a waitress to earn money to buy film stock. Using a borrowed camera, she filmed her first documentary, "So Far from India," a study of an Indian immigrant living in the U.S.
She made several more documentaries but eventually started to lose patience with the form.
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| "One of my mantras is that if we don't tell our own stories, nobody else will tell them," said Mira Nair, known for such movies as "Mississippi Masala," "The Perez Family," "Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love," and "Monsoon Wedding." |
"I was tired of waiting for things to happen. I wanted to make them happen."
The film she made happen was the award-winning "Salaam Bombay!" (1988), a study of homeless children trying to eke out a living on the teeming streets of the Indian metropolis. Nair used real street kids as the principal actors, creating an education workshop to prepare them for their performances. Funded by profits from Nair's films, the workshop has proliferated to 17, providing nearly 5,000 children with education, skills, and in many cases, reuniting them with their families.
Nair's subsequent films include "Mississippi Masala," "The Perez Family," "Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love," and "Monsoon Wedding." She is currently filming a movie adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray's novel "Vanity Fair."
Another current project is the creation of an organization, modeled on the Sundance Institute, to encourage and support young independent Indian filmmakers.
"In India, there is no place for young people with something important to say to dream in images," she said.
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