SchoolScapes

Original title SchoolScapes

Inspired by the cinema of Lumière and the ideas of the 20th century Indian thinker Krishnamurti, David MacDougall this time explores a famous progressive school in South India, the Rishi Valley School. This is a film dedicated to the simple act of looking, in which each scene is a single shot. Since completing the Doon School Quintet, his series of films about an elite boys’ boarding school in North India, MacDougall has turned his attention to other institutions for children in India. The coeducational Rishi Valley School in Andra Pradesh was founded on the educational principles espoused by Jiddu Krishnamurti, who stressed the importance of observing the world around us more calmly and simply, as if with fresh eyes. SchoolScape was made in this spirit.

Author/s David MacDougall

David MacDougall is a documentary filmmaker and writer on cinema. MacDougall writes regularly on documentary and ethnographic cinema. He is presently a Professorial Fellow at the Centre for Cross-Cultural Research, Australian National University, Canberra.
Selected filmography: 1972 To Live With Herds, 1979 The Wedding Camels, 1991 Photo Wallahs, 1993 Tempus de Baristas, 2000 Doon School Chronicles, 2001 With Morning Hearts, 2003 The New Boys, 2004 The Age of Reason.

Research David MacDougall
Photography David MacDougall
Sound David MacDougall
Editing David MacDougall