‘Hul Sengel- The spirit of The Santhal Revolution’ : A documentary

“Produced (2005) on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Hul Rebellion the Santal aborigines mounted in 1855-1856 against the East India Company, a crucial moment in the long march toward independence from colonial repression, this documentary portrays the spirit and the unfolding of the events still vividly remembered by many aborigine peoples. Filmed in the same locations where the uprising took place and with several Adivasis living in New Delhi, and shown on Indian TV, the film combines rare archival film material with interviews with some of the leaders’ descendants, offering an eloquent reflection on the government’s authoritarian style, which has remained such, despite decades of independence. The film was premiered at the conference “Reinterpreting Adivasi Movement in South Asia” by the Centre for World Environmental History of the University of Sussex.” (cinemambiente)

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The Director : Dr Daniel Rycroft is Lecturer in the Arts and Cultures of Asia at the School of World Art Studies, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. Since 2003 he has been a research fellow at the University of Sussex where he undertook a research project on Subalternity and Visual Representation in India. Here, he produced and directed the film Hul Sengel: the Spirit of the Santal Revolution in close collaboration with the Indian Confederation of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (New Delhi) on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Santal Rebellion, a movement which continues to inspire demands for Adivasi self-rule in Jharkhand State (eastern-central India) today. His recent book entitled Representing Rebellion: Visual Aspects of Counter-insurgency in Colonial India published by Oxford University Press (2006) analyses depictions of the colonial encounter in nineteenth century Jharkhand.

Co-Director: Joy Raj Tudu (Indian Confederation of Indigenous & Tribal People)
Co-Producer: D. Mardi (Indian Confederation of Indigenous & Tribal People)
Coordinator: John Jantu Soren (Indian Confederation of Indigenous & Tribal People)
Editor: Paramita Guha
Camera: Priya Sen
Paintings: Pujahar Soren

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Image : Santhan Rebellion Affray between Railway Engineers and Santhals, Illustrated London News, 1856