In remote rural festivals all around India the ‘Well of Death’ has been a long-notorious attraction – where for £0.50p per ticket, you can see stunt drivers rocket in circles across 60ft walls, throwing caution to the wind and defying gravity.
“Gladiators on Wheels” is an experimental documentary short made over a one day shoot in West Bengal’s Poush Mela, where as a I child grew up in awe of these riders. Returning to visit them, I discovered their story for the first time. Interviews were then edited and adapted collaboratively with the riders, and later voiced by local actors.