EXCLUSIVE: Adler & Associates Entertainment has acquired Aneek Chaudhuri’s feature documentary The Place Once Known as Earth and We, Homo Sapiens.
The film, from The Zebras director Chaudhuri, is billed as “a daring exploration of the intersection of religion, patriarchy, and gender oppression in India.” According to Chaudhuri, it “unearths how rituals, customs, and cultural double standards—often sanctified in the name of faith—perpetuate misogyny across generations.”
Arthouse director Chaudhuri has explored rural rituals and urban issues, with testimony from musicians, journalists, theatre practitioners, psychologists and citizens.
“The Place Once Known as Earth and We, Homo Sapiens is a mirror to a civilization where divine femininity is celebrated on pedestals while real women are condemned for the same natural cycles that make them human,” said Chaudhuri.
“We offer prayers to Durga, Kali, and Lakshmi with utmost devotion, yet in the same breath, we silence women at home, dismiss their ambitions, or even justify violence against them,” he added. “That hypocrisy fascinated me—how the sacred and the violent coexist without guilt.”
Though the film is focused on India, the film will draw parallels to other practises that could be considered misogynistic elsewhere in the world. Chaudhuri said that religion acts as the centerpiece, “not to vilify faith itself, but to examine how patriarchal structures manipulate its power.”
The Place Once Known as Earth and We, Homo Sapiens has played at festivals such as the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne in Australia.
“Aneek’s film is not just about India; it’s puts humanity’s contradictions under the microscope,” said Mark Belasco, Executive Vice President at Adler & Associates. “By placing religion at the center, he exposes how systems of belief can both empower and oppress.
“Told with honesty, and a refusal to sanitize, Aneek’s style makes the documentary universally compelling. This is the kind of work that resonates far beyond its cultural origins. Besides, it’s been a long-term association with Aneek. This film hopes to be universal.”
“Cinema cannot dismantle patriarchy in one sweep, but it can disturb,” added Chaudhuri. “It can make you confront the contradictions you live with daily. That disturbance is the first step toward change.”