Sita Sings the Blues Now Online

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann Mar 10, 2009

I've made no secret that I thought Nina Paley's independent animated film Sita Sings the Blues (click the link to read a review) was one of the best films of 2008, even though copyright issues kept it from being released into theatres.

In my wrap-up of The Best and Worst Animated Films of 2008, I called it a "highly personal juxtaposition of ancient tragedy and modern comedy. Director/writer/sole animator Paley crafted a film that found humour through heartbreak and vice versa. Proof that a great story will overcome any obstacle.

"This film deserves to be seen, and it's a tragedy that it likely won't."

Now you can discover if I was right: Sita Sings the Blues has now found its way online. You can check out the flick for free by going over to Nina Paley's website and clicking the links from there. You can either scope out a highly-compressed streaming version at channel13.org, or you can score a higher quality download at 480p QuickTime H.264 at archive.org.

Paley plans to sell a limited edition of signed DVD packages, which includes a free pre-downloaded DVD, but the film itself will be available for free online.

There is however, one request from the author: "If you want a copy, please wait for the higher quality formats instead of capturing the very compressed channel13.org streaming version," Paley says on her site. "As the artist, I want the highest quality versions to circulate; it’d be sad if a super-compressed capture started torrenting first. Together, we can keep quality high!"

Also, if you enjoy the flick (and I'm sure you will), please send Paley some token of your appreciation. As she says on her site, "I still need another $43,000 to pay off loans to get Sita out of copyright jail, so please donate if it feels right."

Do yourself a favour and check out this excellent animated film.