DESCENT: A MOVEMENT FILM, 2min., USA, Dance
Directed by Proma Khosla & Anjali Mehta
“Descent” follows the story of K, a former asylum client of creator Anjali Mehta’s who was separated from her daughter upon arriving in the United States. Like so many other adults seeking asylum, the loss of her child at the hands of immigration authorities led K into a downward spiral — one that eventually manifested as schizophrenia. Unable to receive the care she needed, K fell deeper and deeper into despair. Unfortunately, the K that ended up before an asylum judge was not the fighter her lawyers knew her to be, and she was deported without her daughter. In Descent, Anjali attempts to capture K's journey upon arriving in the U.S., using her ghungroo (bells) — so inextricably tied to one's identity as a dancer — to symbolize K's child.