“Sita Sings the Blues” director Nina Paley interview Part 2

For part 1 of this interview go to “Sita Sings the Blues” director turns pain into passion project

By Michael Knox, mknox@modernfilmzine.com

Nina Paley’s “Sita Sings the Blues” has been an Internet hit, playing at film festivals around the world. But the film, somehow has not found major theatrical distribute. And ever since Paley has gone on the film festival circuit she’s learned a few reasons why.

“At first distributors were simply scared of it because it was hard to describe and it was just  weird,” Paley said.  “And big distributors won’t touch something this weird. Small distributors became interested over time.” …continue reading “Sita Sings the Blues” uses Internet to be a smash hit

By Michael Knox, mknox@modernfilmzine.com

“Sita Sings the Blues” director Nina Paley interview part 1

When Nina Paley set out to create her animated feature film, “Sita Sings the Blues,” it was a lesson in commitment. The feature film is based on the Indian story of Ramayana, telling the tale of Rama and Sita and their break up. Paley, originally born in Urbana, IL, learned about the story of Ramayana when she moved to Trivandrum, India, in 2002 after her husband took a job offer there.

“Sita Sings the Blues” also tells the story of Paley’s relationship with her husband, who dumped her by e-mail, when she was on a quick trip to New York. …continue reading “Sita Sings the Blues” director turns pain into passion project

On Jan. 22, ModernFilmZine will post an interview with Nina Paley, the director of the animated feature film, “Sita Sings the Blues.” The movie is an Internet smash hit and a personal film for Paley. She came up with the story after being dumped by her husband by e-mail, weaving her personal struggle with the Indian story of Ramayana, with the break up of Sita and Rama. The interview is the first of two parts.

On Jan. 24, ModernFilmZine will post the second part of a two piece interview featuring Nina Paley. The article will discuss Paley’s struggle to find a distributor for her film, “Sita Sings the Blues.” The piece will discuss how new computer technology and the Internet has helped her film an audience and how some people in India see her film as to flippant.