Hunnar Films

Wow, such a gas. Last week, Sunil Bhadekar, one of the designers (at my studio in Bombay - Hunnar Films), sent me this image! This is a part view of my studio in Bombay, circa 1988. I had just completed building the first ever 6° axis motion-control animation rig and also a dual-axis optical printer. The animation rig (and stepper controllers) are visible here. I have some more of those images packed away, and I have to haul them out sometime and post them on this blog. (Hunnar Films was started by my dad - Clement Baptista, a famous documentary filmmaker. After he passed away in 1986, I ran the studio, focusing primarily on advertising, shorts and fx for film. My brother Romir was also part of the operation)... ** Clement BaptistaImage: Sunil Bhadekar

S-21 Tuol Sleng

Take a school, convert it into one of the most brutal centres of torture and destruction - this was Pol Pot, along with his Khmer Rouge, a nightmare come alive - reminding us the of depravity we can be capable of....
A most sobering experience. The 'school' just sits there, in the middle of a bustling Phnom Penh (well not really - nothing about Cambodia is a real bustle), and it's amazing to watch the subdued atmosphere and the effect on all the visitors. We didn't take Mara & Tia with us (I'm glad), and it later took a long boat-ride on the Tonlé Sap for us to snap out of it.

Stairs, Ladders... Whatever

So these chaps must've had rippling thighs and monstrous stamina.
I mean just look at the stairways they built! They're almost vertical, and each step has a great rise.
What happened when you got to the top and you needed to pee?
The hike up was well worth it. We got to Angkor at 4:30am and up to the top at about 5:30 with the sunrise - Just wonderful.