Film Screening: Sita Sings the Blues

Nina Paley’s 2008 award-winning film Sita Sings the Blues is a deeply
personal retelling of the Ramayana, created by a filmmaker who, like Sita, seeks to understand why her ideal husband rejected her. Paley wrote, directed, animated, and produced the film, which she describes as “a tale of truth, justice, and a woman’s cry for equal treatment.” The film moves back and forth between the story of Sita, banished by Rama in reaction to gossip about her faithfulness while she was held hostage by Ravana, animated by Paley with images reminiscent of traditional Indian painting, and the story of Paley’s abandonment by her own husband, animated in a Squigglevision style.

“I am enchanted. I am swept away. I am smiling from one end of the film to the other. It is astonishingly original…To get any film made is a miracle. To conceive of a film like this is a greater miracle.”
-Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times