नीलम (Neelam)

"WHEN I CLOSE MY EYES, I SEE BLUE" नीलम (NEELAM) IS AN EXPERIMENTAL CYANOTYPE FILM INSPIRED BY THE POEM, GHAZAL (6) BY ISHRAT AFREEN AND SHAPED THROUGH PERSONAL MEMORY, FEMININE INHERITANCE, AND MATERIAL PROCESS. COMBINING ARCHIVAL FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHS, FILMED FOOTAGE OF MY MOTHER AND GRANDMOTHER, LANDSCAPE IMAGERY, AND OVER 800 HAND-PRODUCED CYANOTYPE FRAMES, THE WORK EXPLORES MEMORY AS SOMETHING ATMOSPHERIC RATHER THAN FIXED. THE FILM CENTRES AROUND THE COLOUR BLUE, BOTH THROUGH THE CYANOTYPE PROCESS AND THROUGH THE NAME NEELAM, WHICH BELONGS TO MY GRANDMOTHER AND TRANSLATES DIRECTLY TO BLUE. THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT, BLUE BECAME MORE THAN AN AESTHETIC DECISION AND INSTEAD EVOLVED INTO A WAY OF VISUALISING MEMORY, INTIMACY, AND EMOTIONAL PRESENCE. RATHER THAN ILLUSTRATING THE POEM LITERALLY, NEELAM ATTEMPTS TO TRANSLATE ITS EMOTIONAL ATMOSPHERE INTO MOVING IMAGE THROUGH COLOUR, RHYTHM, TEXTURE, AND SLOWNESS, WHERE IMAGES BEGIN TO FEEL LESS LIKE DOCUMENTATION AND MORE LIKE LINGERING IMPRESSIONS. 857 FRAMES