Hippie Masala

Hippie Masala
Poster of the film
Directed byUlrich Grossenbacher
Damaris Lüthi
Written byDamaris Lüthi
CinematographyUlrich Grossenbacher
Edited byMaya Schmid
Music byMatthias Gmünder
Sahlil Shankar
Production
companies
Fair&Ugly Filmproduktion GmbH
Release date
  • January 2006 (2006-01)
Running time
93 minutes
CountrySwitzerland
LanguagesEnglish, Swiss German

Hippie Masala: Für immer in Indien (English: Hippie Masala: Forever in India) is a 2006 Swiss documentary film directed by Ulrich Grossenbacher and Damaris Lüthi. It examines Western expatriates living in India decades after the hippie movement of the late 1960s. The film was screened at festivals including Munich, Locarno, Woodstock, and Miami.[1]

Synopsis

The film follows hippies who left the West for Asia in the late 1960s and are shown living in India decades later. Among them are Cesare, an Italian who lives as a yogi in a remote cave, and Hanspeter from the Emmental, who has made a life for himself as a mountain farmer in northern India. The film portrays these expatriates and their ways of life in India.[1]

Production

Ulrich Grossenbacher had himself spent time in India in the late 1970s. The idea for the film arose from a later trip there and an encounter with a French couple who had settled in the country. Damaris Lüthi drew on her background in ethnology and her research experience in South India. For the research and shoot, the filmmakers spent more than six months in India and returned with around 120 hours of footage.[2]

Reception

Awards and nominations

In 2007, Hippie Masala was nominated for the Swiss Film Prize for Best Documentary Film.[3]

Critical response

Filmdienst wrote that the documentary presents several Westerners living in India, exploring both their personal motivations and the practical realities of their alternative way of life without pursuing a broader cultural-philosophical framework.[4] Filmbulletin described the film as a homage to the hippie generation that also raises questions about cultural barriers, and wrote that it depicts both dropout culture and Indian society with humour and nuance.[2]

Festival screenings

The film's festival screenings included the Munich International Documentary Film Festival, the DOCNZ International Documentary Film Festival, and the Locarno Film Festival in 2006. It was also screened at the Woodstock Film Festival in 2007, and at the Miami International Film Festival and the International Film Festival of India in 2008.[1][5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Hippie Masala". Swiss Films (in German). Retrieved 8 April 2026.
  2. 1 2 "Hippie Masala". Filmbulletin (in German). Retrieved 8 April 2026.
  3. ↑ "The "new look" Swiss Film Prize 2007". Swiss Films. 7 November 2006. Retrieved 8 April 2026.
  4. ↑ "Hippie Masala - Für immer in Indien". Filmdienst (in German). Retrieved 8 April 2026.
  5. ↑ "IFFI 2008, Focus Switzerland". Archived from the original on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
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