Shooting water : a memoir of second chances, family, and filmmaking
(Book)

Includes index.

"This memoir reveals the intimate story of a daughter's efforts to rekindle her relationship with her mother, award-winning filmmaker Deepa Mehta, during the production of Mehta's most controversial movie, Water."

"In late 1999, when Devyani Saltzman was nineteen, her mother invited her to the holy city of Benares, India, to begin shooting the final installment in the acclaimed Elements trilogy (following Fire and Earth). Both women hoped that working together would help them repair their relationship, which had been strained since Devyani was eleven years old. At that time, her parents divorced and Devyani chose to live with her father, Canadian filmmaker Paul Saltzman. She spent the next several years navigating between two religions (Hinduism and Judaism), two cultures (Indian and Canadian), two traditions, and two people - belonging to both and to neither at once."

"The mother-daughter reunion was cut short when, after just one week of shooting, Water was shut down by violent protesters who burned the sets and pressured the Indian government into revoking the film permits. Religious fundamentalists objected to the film's controversial subject matter - the fate of Hindu widows in 1938 colonial India. It was not until filming resumed in secrecy in Sri Lanka four years later that Devyani and her mother were able to come to terms." "Spanning three continents, Shooting Water chronicles Devyani Saltzman's life-changing experience in India, the five-year odyssey to complete the film, and the emergence of a deeper understanding between mother and daughter."--Jacket.