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I Saw Plastic Food
Film
2024-ongoing
5 mins, English
I Saw Plastic Food is an experimental short film that refelcts on the illusion of abundance in a society facing potential food scarcity.
The hyper-realistic plastic food displays of Tokyo are a testament to our desire for consumption. This, juxtaposed with the sterile confinement of massive aquariums and ocean-like ecosystems, comes through as a reminder of the ocean’s vulnerability. The film tries to explore this disconnect by questioning the ethics of using natural resources.
May
2020
13 mins, No dialogue
Mango and Neem trees have taken over an old house standing at the edge of the street. The house, belonging to Neera and Ajit, has seen over four generations. The film takes place on a summer afternoon in their house. It’s a still, mundane day with their grand-children. Ripe mangoes sway on the tree in an unexpected rain shower. Illustration by Abhishek Mankotia
May is an attempt to reconstruct a memory into a film and present a narration of associations that occur in the process of recollection, both with inanimate objects and animated life. An auto-ethnographic reconstruction of memory, it attempts to navigate the self beyond the constructs of time, dichotomies of the present and the past, distant and close, remembered and forgotten.
Writer, Director & Editor
To watch the film, please write to me at eshwarya.grover@gmail.com
Children of Mist
Mixed Media
2023-present
Children of Mist explores war through a child’s perspective (curation of texts, AI generated art, photographs and voiceover from films).
By weaving together disparate elements, the series avoids a singular narrative. It reflects the fragmented experiences of childen in war zones, where reality is a constant negotiation between the horrors of the present and hope for a future. The series encourages a non-linear viewing experience.
References : Sunday in Peking by Chris Marker, 1956 (film)
Moving the Roof of a House by Francis Ching (sketch)
Meditations in an Emergency by Cameron-Awkward Rich (poem)
Portrait of a Scent
Documentary
2024 - present
Portrait of a Scent explores philosophical themes of preservation, decay, and the ethics of cultural heritage conservation. The film reflects on time, memory, and the sensory richness of cultural artefacts beyond their physical appearance. It also raises questions about museums' roles, restoration ethics, and the societal values shaping our understanding of cultural memory.
Metta Bhavana
Film
2020
Metta Bhavana is a Buddhist meditation acknowledging existence and cultivating kindness. By seeing it as it is, the thoughts become less cloudy and existence more clear.
Film by Eshwarya Grover
Written by Shobhit Narang
Narration by Mann Gera
Memoirs of Saira & Salim
Film
2018
14 mins, Hindi
The film intimately follows the titular characters as they revisit their abandoned home, a place marked by the 2002 riots in India. The film explores the lingering impact of an incident that has slipped into the fringes of the nation’s collective memory. Seventeen years later, Gulbarg Society remains in an abandoned and dilapidated state. Nature has taken over the man-made, but the walls still reek of horror from the carnage.
In February 2002, a devastating three-day of inter-communal violence engulfed India following the tragic burning of a train in Godhra, which led to the deaths of Hindu pilgrims. This event triggered widespread violence, particularly in Ahmedabad, where Muslim communities were brutally targeted, and their homes and shops were set aflame. The Gulbarg Society massacre on February 28, 2002, stands out as a particularly grim episode, with a mob attacking a predominantly Muslim society.
Physical spaces that have witnessed violence continue to mark people’s relationship to history and memory. Saira and Salim's return to Gulbarg is a reflection on the intersection of personal and collective histories, underscoring the enduring impact of violence on individual lives and communities.
Cinematographer, Director & Editor To watch the film, please write to me at eshwarya.grover@gmail.com