Emil Kalus
bangaloREsident@Suchitra

Emil Kalus © Emil Kalus Emil Kalus was born in 1988 in Wroclaw, Poland just before the fall of the Berlin Wall. He grew up during this transitional period in West Germany. Torn between two languages, two cultures and two nations, he always wondered - what is home? Where is home? Since boyhood, he always felt like not belonging to a physical place. He always searched for a place where he would feel the sense of belonging.

After living and travelling in different parts of the world, Poland, Germany, the USA and India, he realised that “home is not a place but a feeling”. Home is not bound or made by borders, places or people, in fact it’s a feeling that comes from within - feeling home in the world.

He mastered the art of cinematography at the prestiges National Film School in Łódź, Poland. For more than 10 years he gathered practical experience while working in the film industry. As the author of several short films, he explored topics like belonging, working class people and existence.

His work speaks through honest and direct images, piercing through the heart of the spectator. Free of distraction the focus lies on what is beyond the obvious and encourages one to stop and look more carefully, more closely. Like a painting, each frame tells a story and captures the unique self. Uniting art forms like cinematography, sound and music, to create new ways and strategies of storytelling to release emotions and invite to an immersive experience. The goal is to pass on the subjective experience of film reality to the audience.

During his time at the Purvankara Suchitra Cinema and Cultural Academy, he would like to work on short experimental film portraits of working class people in Bangalore. Combined with analogue still photography, he pictures a complete document of the life of daily wagers. What interests him are the humans behind the services used daily by hundreds of people. Their workspace often being their living space, constantly exposed and surrounded by humans. What is privacy? What is home? What are their stories and dreams? Where do they come from and where do they want to go. Using all tools that cinema has available to portray them in the chaos surrounding them as well isolate them and stop time for a closer look.

Final report