Earth(1998)
dir. Deepa Mehta
A child's-eye view of a nation splitting apart.
Where to watch: Streaming on NetflixLetterboxd ↗
In 1947 Lahore, an eight-year-old girl from a wealthy Parsi family watches her beloved nanny's circle of Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh friends turn on one another as Partition tears the city apart. Adapted from Bapsi Sidhwa's novel Cracking India.
Why it’s here
Punk in filtering Partition's violence through a child's understanding rather than a historian's distance — Lenny watches trusted adults turn on each other seemingly overnight. Pedagogical in showing how quickly manufactured religious division can override decades of actual, lived friendship.
Where This Film Lives
- Topics
- partition of india
Read Alongside
Books that share a topic, theme, or setting with this film.
Cracking India
Bapsi Sidhwa
A Lahore girl watches Partition arrive in her neighborhood.
✦ READ – REFLECT → RESIST
Midnight's Children
Salman Rushdie
Born at midnight on independence day. Handcuffed to history.
✦ READ – REFLECT → RESIST
Tamas
Bhisham Sahni
Four days of Partition violence. Every side. No heroes.
✦ READ – REFLECT → RESIST
The Night Diary
Veera Hiranandani
Partition, written by a twelve-year-old.
✦ READ – REFLECT → RESIST
The Shadow Lines
Amitav Ghosh
The borders between nations are imaginary. The deaths are real.
✦ READ – REFLECT → RESIST
Train to Pakistan
Khushwant Singh
A border village in 1947. The trains arrive carrying bodies.
✦ READ – REFLECT → RESIST
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas
Survival instincts don't stop at the Wall.
✦ READ – REFLECT → RESIST
A Grain of Wheat
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Independence week. Everyone's keeping a secret.
✦ READ – REFLECT → RESIST