Mali Arun

In her films Mali Arun focuses her gaze on marginalized existences at the peripheries of human civilization. Using techniques of documentary filmmaking while actively embracing the intrusions on reality inherent to the medium, Arun follows—and often, entwines herself into the lives of her restless protagonists as they stand at the precipice of decisions that portend drastic changes to their ways of life. Conflicts hinge on whether her subjects abandon hard-won, claimed spaces at the fringes or accept paths of least resistance that inevitably mean abandoning dreams or letting go of delusions to face new realities. These inner disquiets are revealed through Arun’s consuming attention, enabling viewers to immerse themselves in both fantasies and anxieties over what the future holds. (Recipient of the Grand Prix award of the Salon de Montrouge granted by Palais de Tokyo, Paris in 2018)