Documentary, 25 minutes, India, English subtitles

Set in the cultural frontier zone of the Hindu Himalaya, AVATARA (from Sanskrit, "descent") explores the lived religion of goddess worship (shaktism) in a remote pastoral valley. For her farmer and shepherd followers, the goddess's presence is all too real; quick to anger and ever-thirsty for sacrifices, she haunts them in their dreams and rituals, demanding complete submission as both child-like-friend and motherly-punisher. In this enchanted world of magical creativity, the encounters with the goddess are transient, intuitive events that hold the key to creation and, for those lucky enough to see her, a short lived salvation.