Bound on Earth

Bound on Earth is a portrait of rhythm, rendered. A constructed passage of passages and passageways, we float from the shore, through the backwaters and through spaces of devotion in Kerala, India. 

Kerala is steeped in religious and economic history. Waves of merchants over the past millennia have come in search of spices and brought with them religions, foods, and architectures that have left their mark on the customs and the land. This piece explores the waterways of Kerala as a metaphor of tempered change. The rivers of the backwaters present an apt metaphor—their constancy built upon the ever-flowing waters toward the sea. 

Yellow fishing ropes, airborne boulders, workers in the monsoon rains, a bustling fish market—the ebb and swell of daily life counterpoise moments spent floating through thick foliage or witnessing the prayers of devotees or the solemnity of a wedding. 

A meditation on life and work along the waters many edges, this film renders the rhythm of daily life; the cadence of work and the tempo of devotion in a concatenation of floating.