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“The Lover and the Beloved revels in absurdity and the seeming chaos of India and in particular the holy men who live in the polluting world of a cremation ground. It explores the beauty of the irrational and immerses the viewer in the world of spiritual practices that seek to obliterate the ego and presents tantra as the science of the spirit. It is a rare film that makes the viewer cynical and at the same time experience the irrationality of the existential lifestyle of the Hindu Aghori sadhus. The film does not pass judgement but allows the viewer to witness and possibly understand what is deeply esoteric and difficult to explain with rationality."
Michael Yorke, University College London 2015
Director: Andy Lawrence
Lead Researcher: Rajive McMullen
Producer: Andy Lawrence / Rajive McMullen
Camera: Andy Lawrence
Sound: Jon Tipler
Editing: Andy Lawrence
Additional Editing: David Henderson
Film Festivals, Screenings, Awards
Official Selection, European Association of Social Anthropologists, France, 2012
Association of Asian Studies Film Expo, USA, 2014
XVI Sardinia International Ethnographic Film Festival, Italy, 2012
9th International Film Festival - The Heart of Slavonia, Croatia, 2012
Ethnocineca, Vienna, Austria, 2012
Association of Social Anthropologists, New Delhi, India, 2012
Worldfilm 2012 - Tartu Festival of Visual Culture, Tartu, Estonia, 2012
International Ethnographic Film Festival of Quebec, Canada, 2012
15th Mostra International do Filme Etnografico, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 2011
AAA Film and Interactive Media Festival, Montreal, Canada, 2011
31st NAFA Film Festival, Scotland, 2011
Akasha Metaphysical Film Festival, California, USA, 2011
Audience Prize, 12th RAI International Festival of Ethnographic Film, London, UK, 2011
10th International SIEF Congress, Portugal, 2011
5th Anthropology Film Festival, Canada, 2011
Days of Ethnographic Film, Slovenia, 2011