IT’S A LONG WAY TO THE SEA… Asia

Puwal is a boatman in Nemuguri village,
on the bank of the river Dihing in Assam.
For three generations, his forefathers have
been ferrying people to and fro. Life goes
on smoothly until Puwal begins to hear persistent
reports about a bridge to be built
across the river. The government has
decided to bring that symbol of progressa
bridge-to connect the North and South
bank of the Dihing. Puwal is disturbed by
the news but is distracted by an invitation
to Guwahati he receives from his son,
Hemanta. In Guwahati, Puwal is at first
delighted but within a few days disillusioned.
It appears that Hemanta and his
wife want Puwal to sign a deed of sale of
a property which, years ago, Hemanta
had purchased in Puwal’s name.
Dismayed, Puwal returns home to find that
the bridge has been commissioned. The
world of the boatman seems to be crumbling
around him. -Production notes