Sama in the Forest: The Power of Women’s Storytelling in a Changing World

Details

7 April 2026 (Tuesday, 3 pm)/२४ चैत्र २०८२ (मंगलबार, दिउँसो ३ बजे)
Documentary Film Screening: Show and Discussion
Sama in the Forest
The Power of Women’s Storytelling in a Changing World
(2023, Maithili, English, 75 mins)
A Film Directed by Carlos Gomez
Produced by Coralynn V. Davis, Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and Anthropology, Bucknell University, USA

Film Abstract
Sama in the Forest (2023/Maithili, English/75 mins). This hybrid documentary is set in contemporary Mithila, where a rich cultural identity extends from the mythical past into a globalized present in which pressures on tradition are accelerating. Maithil identity is passed on in part through its renowned painting tradition, as well as through its lesser known wealth of orally transmitted folktales. Women play a central role in both of these expressions. In a creative collaboration with local community members, we highlight the tale of Sama, a young princess who wanders into the forest and befriends a young man, only to be slandered by a muckraking confidante of the king, and subsequently cursed and banished by her father. The film combines footage of women telling different versions of the tale, the making of elaborate narrative paintings, a dramatization of the story, a yearly festival that celebrates Sama, and in-depth conversations about the morals and meanings of this and other traditional tales. The girls and women at the heart of our film are students and teachers at the Mithila Art Institute, a small school for young aspiring artists. Additional participants—community members of different genders, castes, and generations—help paint a complex picture of the social tensions evident in Mithila today.

About the Speaker
Coralynn Davis is Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and Anthropology at Bucknell University. An award-winner teacher, Dr Davis holds a PhD (1999) in Anthropology from the University of Michigan, where she also earned a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies (1994). She has held Research Associateships at the Five College Women’s Studies Research Center (2005–2006) and at the Harvard Divinity School Women’s Studies in Religion Program (2008-2009). Her ethnographic research with communities in Nepal and India has been supported by three Fulbright Grants (1994–1995; 2003–2004; 2016–2017). In addition to having published peer-reviewed articles in journals centered in several disciplines, her book Maithil Women’s Tales: Storytelling on the Nepal-India Border was published by University of Illinois Press in 2014. She is the producer of the hybrid documentary film, Sama in the Forest (Dir. Carlos Gómez), which is based on her research. She has also created a public digital archive of Maithil women’s oral tales.