Hippie Masala

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. == 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. == Reception ==

Awards and nominations In 2007, Hippie Masala was nominated for the Swiss Film Prize for Best Documentary Film. 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. 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. ==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. ==References==