Underplayed Gems

Auto Driver (2015)

Auto Driver poster
Directed by
Meena Longjam
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A woman in Imphal, Manipur, starts driving a second-hand auto rickshaw to support her sick husband and pay for her sons' school. The documentary follows her daily life and determination as she works in a job that is unusual for women in her city.

intimateslow-pacedobservationalresilientunderstatedearthyinspiringgentle

What happens

Auto Driver is a 2015 Manipuri documentary film directed by Meena Longjam. It tells the story of Laibi Oinam who took to driving a second-hand auto rickshaw in 2011, in a non-traditional profession for women in the Imphal city of Manipur, in order to support her ailing husband and sons' education. Produced over three years, it won the best social issue film in the non-feature category at the 63rd National Film Awards in 2015 and Best Short Documentary in the Audience Choice category at the 2017 Women's Voices Now Film Festival. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.