Event
Film Block 2
The Golden Hour, Face
The Golden Hour is anchored in Piyush's quest to curb fatalities due to road accidents within the hugely populated city of Delhi and eventually throughout other parts of the world where the problem exists. The principal character of the film, Piyush, is a 29-year-old visionary and recipient of the Rolex Young Laureates Award, 2010 and Echoing Green Fellowship 2012. In 2007 he lost his seventeen-year-old cousin, Shivam to a road accident. This character-driven documentary hopes to inspire the community through his personal story. 'I had two options after the death of my cousin - to go into depression and curse the government. Or to come up with a solution, so that others do not lose their loved ones to road accidents, like we did.' Piyush took the road less traveled and founded SaveLIFE Foundation in 2008, to engage the community in collectively responding during road accident emergencies, via basic medical training for bystanders on an emergency trauma situation. SaveLIFE hopes to partner with other countries (Philippines, Nigeria, Ethiopia) experiencing this same epidemic to work on giving them the tools and knowledge to help save lives in their communities. The Golden Hour narrates the story of this one man's mission to make a difference by working within the system, in collaboration with the police, the government, and the medical community. Through the eyes of Piyush Tewari The Golden Hour captures the story ofhundreds of people who die everyday on the streets of India, whose lives could have been saved, had they received timely care within the first 'golden hour'. It is the story of every bystander in India who can make a difference and save a life, if they have the required life saving skill and the willingness to actively engage in helping a victim on an accident scene. The film follows a simple three-act structure narrative arc. It begins with an accident scene. This scene sets up the urgency and the drama necessary to capture the attention of the viewers. From here, we cut to Piyush's personal story of his cousin Shivam's death. As he contemplates, we hear in his own voice about the day when he received that fatal call from his uncle. His family members also recreate that horrific moment when they got the fatal news about Shivam's accident and then his death. We hear in Piyush's words how this personal loss translated into his vision of SaveLIFE Foundation (SLF). Piyush's personal story works to establish the need and introduce the issue at hand. This leads to the next segment of the film, which is Piyush's extensive research into the subject and identifying the core of the problem. This is again established in Piyush's own voice and the voices of people who are connected with this issue directly or indirectly - such as the police, the medical fraternity, government representatives, the accident victims, car manufacturers, the youth and general public. We hear the grievances of common man through street interviews that they get harassed by police officers if they offer help to accident victims. These opinions are rebutted by police officers who deny any such allegation. The argument heats up. In the face of all this Piyush manages to set up SaveLIFE Foundation - India's and world's first ever community-driven emergency responder system. We see Piyush and his team addressing a youth group to sign up as SLF volunteers. Piyush takes on the colossal task of setting up a 24 hour SLF call center to take calls from bystanders on accident sites. We witness the grand award ceremony where police officers who were trained by SLF members had saved lives on accident scenes. We watch Piyush at work, training common people and police officers. And we also see a mock-up drill in front of the India Gate. The film ends on a note of hope. After five years of sweat and constant battling with government organizations...Piyush and his team have successfully tested and launched a community-driven emergency responder system on the National Highway-8, a busy highway with a very high accident rate. They operate with a 1800 number that accepts calls from accident site. 3521 police officers have been trained as first responders, since they first started. Finally, a Supreme Court ruling has been issued that forbids police officers to harass bystanders who help accident victims. In the end the film is about hope as SaveLIFE spreads its wings to new territories. This symbolizes hope and thrives on the notion that there are real heroes in a society that relies incessantly on larger-than-life movie heroes or miracles to happen. In the end the film hopes to answer the question whether one man can really make a cultural and perception change within a society.The story is told from a third person perspective. It unfolds largely on its ownthrough visual narrative, interviews, snapshots of Delhi traffic, montage sequences andreenactments. Vivid visuals of Delhi streets and realistic interviews bring the story to life. All of these have been shot with a handheld camera to simulate the actual experience of being in Delhi traffic. The film is structured on the lines of a narrative drama, Piyush's story being the soul of the film. The majority of the film uses two very exciting cinematic techniques; an over-the-shoulder camera and calculated action scenes. The first of these techniques is where we will find the narrative of our main character, Piyush. The camera/audience in these moments are literally following Piyush through his daily life as he dedicates his existence to the SaveLIFE Foundation and his family. The camera in these situations has a seemingly invisible presence, allowing Piyush to become an 'actor' similar to the documentary films The Lost Boys of Sudan, Which Way Home, or a narrative feature like The Wrestler. In this film, the camera is present, but the people on screen sparingly address the camera directly, through interviews.
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LocationBrightside Tavern
141 Bright St
Jersey City, NJ 07302
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: No |
| Wheelchair Accessible: No |
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