SYNOPSIS
DÉPART (India, 2025) takes viewers to Mahé, a coastal town in southern India shaped by French colonial rule. Once an important trading centre for the French East India Company, Mahé retains traces of its colonial past in its historical sites, monuments and cultural landscape.
Through the perspective of a French traveller, the documentary explores the remnants of this history, from crumbling fortifications to the Column of Liberty, while reflecting on the lives and sacrifices connected to the region's past. As Mahé's distinctive historical identity faces the passage of time, the film raises questions about the fragility of collective memory, cultural heritage and the histories that risk being forgotten.
By revisiting the legacy of French India, DÉPART invites audiences to reflect on how colonial histories continue to shape places, identities and belonging long after political rule has ended.
Panel Discussion
The documentary screening will be followed by a panel discussion:
Mahé's history offers a distinctive perspective on the legacies of colonialism and decolonisation in South Asia. Bringing together the filmmaker and researchers working on colonial history, social history and postcolonial belonging, the discussion will examine how colonial pasts are remembered, interpreted and transmitted across generations.
This discussion will explore how colonial histories continue to shape cultural identity and collective memory, what it means to preserve or lose historical heritage, and how communities negotiate belonging after colonial rule. It will also consider the relationship between historical narratives and lived experiences, and the ways in which film and other forms of cultural representation can bring overlooked histories into public conversation.
The discussion will be followed by questions from the audience.
Speakers
- Sara Arab, PhD Candidate in International History and Politics, Geneva Graduate Institute
- Bernard Z. Keo, Assistant Professor of International History and Politics, Geneva Graduate Institute
- Devarya Srivastava, PhD Researcher in International History and Politics and PhD Affiliate at the Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy, Geneva Graduate Institute
- Dr. Tripurdaman Singh, Researcher at the Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy, Geneva Graduate Institute
- Mrinalini Tewari, Filmmaker of DÉPART
Trailer
Partners
Student Initiative on Asia (SIA)
Contemporary East Asia Studies Initiative (CEAS)
