Project Detail

Cartography of Loneliness

Synopsis

The documentary, "Cartografía de la soledad" (Cartography of Loneliness), is akin to a map tracing the emotions and feelings of women who find themselves totally alone on losing their husbands in three countries, India, Nepal and Afghanistan.
The choice of these three countries which are so near each other and have significant ethnic and religious differences is not by chance. India is the country with the most widows in the world, totalling over 45 million. In Nepal, half of the female population is widowed or have been abandoned by their husbands: they are called "child widows" or baikaylas. Afghanistan has the highest proportion of widows in the world after 30 years of war.
Tradition, society and religion have determined the course of their lives following their husbands' deaths. Many widows are abandoned by their families, or victim of women trafficking, or condemned to social ostracism.
War, AIDS and child marriages are the main factors behind these figures.
After living with them for 4 months, there have been impressive stories in a very determined historical, social and religious context, and also the medicine, human rights and education are intertwined in their lives.

Details

Year
2011
Type of project
Features
Running time
68 mins
Format
HDTV
Director
Nocem Collado 1st Feature
Producer
Nocem Collado
Executive Producer
Nocem Collado
Editor
Nocem Collado
Screenwriter
Nocem Collado
Director of Photography
Nocem Collado
Sound
Juan Egoscozábal
Composer
Javi Vega, Joaquín Calderón
Collaborator
Óscar Clemente
Colour
Jose Escrig
Post-production
José Jiménez, Adrián Morales

Categories

Production Status

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

Charles Dickens on a horse animated by Hannah Brewerton Hot Favourites

Director: David Arthur

Year: 2026

Explores the secret life of the filmmaker's father, a former academic and English tutor, and the mystery of why he gambled eye-watering sums of cash, unbeknown to his family.

Two dancers in Zimbabwe The Rift

Director: Janire Najera and Matt Wright

Year: 2025

A fulldome dance film set amidst the rich and varied landscapes of Zimbabwe, where performers express the tension, resilience and interconnectedness between people and the natural world under the pressures of climate change. With their movements, the dancers explore the consequences of environmental disruption and the profound ways in which people and nature are intertwined. Through abstract choreography, symbolic imagery and an atmospheric score, the work reflects the planet’s vulnerability, the challenges posed by environmental shifts and the transformative potential of collective effort. As the dancers navigate these ever-changing locations, their movements evoke the escalating consequences of a warming world, capturing both its fragility and the urgent call for action.

Two hands hold a thread of wool during the process of weaving tartan The Weavers

Director: Callum McCulloch-Nowlan

Year: 2026

Rob Beaton has been weaving tartan and tweed in the Scottish Borders since he was 14. Now 84, he is Scotland's oldest and longest-serving mill worker, operating 100-year-old traditional shuttle looms. With no apprentice to carry on his craft, the mill where he has worked for over four decades may soon be forced to close. But elsewhere in Scotland, a different story is unfolding. At another mill in Highland Perthshire, a young apprentice is learning the trade, and the ancient rhythms of the looms are being passed to a new generation. Once, Scotland's textile industry employed nearly 75% of the population. Today, that figure stands at just 0.2%. Against the backdrop of that decline, the stories of these two mills paint a portrait of an industry at a crossroads. Through his film, Callum McCulloch-Nowlan celebrates the workers, machines, and spaces of Scotland's weaving tradition, while exploring the urgency of preserving a disappearing craft.