This is the first documentary film on the history of Bangla Kalpavigyan and on Indian Science Fiction. But what is Bangla Kalpavigyan? Is there such a thing as Bangla Science Fiction? Is there such a thing as Indian SF?
This is our journey with the genre, captured and presented like never before in film.
Beginning with the early work of writers such as Rokeya Sakhawat Hussain (Begum Rokeya) and the speculative mode in Bengal, and ending with the pioneering webzine Kalpabiswa, the film traces the historical arc of Kalpavigyan over a century of the genre. The principal focus of the film are the genre magazines of the 1960s-80s published in Kolkata and the writers and editors who ignited the movement by giving it shape and form through these magazines. The film is built around a series of conversations with these writers and their successors, and also features critical reflections from researchers and scholars who have worked with the genre both in relation to Bengal and Kalpavigyan as well as the wider phenomenon of SF.
The figure of Adrish Bardhan, the editor of the first Bangla SF magazine, ‘Aschorjo’, looms large over the film, as do major writers such as Satyajit Ray, Premendra Mitra, and Leela Majumdar. The film dives into the particularities of editorial decisions, political concerns, and personal histories that made the magic of Kalpavigyan happen amidst often bleak publishing realities and poverty. But it also sheds warm light on the ultimately liberating strain of speculative utopianism that shapes and continues to shape the genre as an ongoing discussion between fans, critics, and writers.
The film will be of interest to all fans and scholars of Kalpavigyan and SF.
The film is a Norwegian and Indian collaboration. It has been produced and co-scripted by Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay, a World Fantasy Award winning editor, critic, writer, and theorist. The film has been directed by Arunava Gangopadhyay. Its production has been financed by CoFUTURES and the University of Oslo, with additional research support from the Society for the Preservation of Satyajit Ray Archives, the Science Fiction Foundation, SF-TH Inc, International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts, and Kalpabiswa.
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