Ocean in a Drop

How broadband is quietly transforming rural and tribal India

Ocean in a Drop is a 2017 feature documentary directed by Australian filmmaker Andrew Garton, charting how broadband internet is quietly reshaping the lives of rural and tribal communities across India. Photographed by Jary Nemo, the film draws on more than one hundred interviews conducted across fourteen villages to build a portrait of a country in the middle of a silent digital revolution.

What Ocean in a Drop is about

The film travels through nine districts across the Indian states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, visiting communities where the New Delhi-based Digital Empowerment Foundation has introduced information technologies. Each chapter focuses on a different community and a different dimension of digital access: children in Chandauli learning to use the internet for the first time at a community computer lab; folk musicians in Munguska Village recording and archiving their music digitally; and women in Ratnauli using digital tools as part of a government programme guaranteeing them paid work for at least 100 days a year. Told in the voices of the rural women, children, artisans and entrepreneurs living these changes, the documentary is an social documentary about agency and access rather than aid.

Director and cinematographer

Andrew Garton wrote, produced, directed and edited the film. An independent Australian filmmaker and musician with a background in community access video and broadcasting, Garton was invited in mid-2014 by Osama Manzar of the Digital Empowerment Foundation to devise a film about the organisation's impact on rural India. On-location production commenced in January 2015 across four shoots. Jary Nemo served as director of photography, capturing the landscapes and faces of rural India across Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. The film was completed in February 2017 and broadcast on DD1, the Indian national television network, in 2018.

Festivals and screenings

Ocean in a Drop screened at the 15th Chennai International Film Festival in December 2017, where it received press coverage from outlets including the Times of New India and DT Next. The film also received an official selection at the We Art Water Film Festival. It was launched in New Delhi at a celebration marking fifteen years of the Digital Empowerment Foundation, attended by the Australian Deputy High Commissioner.

Where to watch Ocean in a Drop online

Ocean in a Drop is available to stream on GuideDoc, the curated documentary platform. If you are interested in other internet documentaries or technology documentaries, GuideDoc offers a wide selection on related themes. You may also enjoy My Gaza Online or Social Shift, two further documentaries exploring how communities are shaped by digital connectivity.