So Nina Paley makes a movie. And it's great. It's downright amazing. And she wants to share it with the world. But some of the songs that are integral, indeed inseparable, to the movie are in a serious copyright grey-zone. They were recorded in the 1920's, but some are still under copyright and their various respective owners want their due. Here's a list give you a taste of the IP complexity here. But after a lot of money, a lot of involvement by committed internet copyfighters, and a lot of struggle on behalf of her art, Paley has released Sita Sings The Blues for free to the waiting public!The story is an animated retelling of the Ramayana set to 1920's jazz and blues. NYC PBS described the film thusly:
Sita is a goddess separated from her beloved Lord and husband Rama. Nina is an animator whose husband moves to India, then dumps her by e-mail. Three hilarious shadow puppets narrate both ancient tragedy and modern comedy in this beautifully animated interpretation of the Indian epic Ramayana. Set to the 1920’s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw, Sita Sings the Blues earns its tagline as “The Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told.”
It's also the most amazing movie I've seen in a long, long time. Here's a list of places you can see it online, including artist posted torrents of the whole film.The slightly confused and forgetful narrator shadow-puppets are my favorite part.
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