By NICK TODARO

Staff Writer

A pair of Indian graduate engineering students and one Tech engineering alumnus from India have produced a video compact disc that will be shown at 7:30 p.m. Feb 14 in Tolliver Hall.

The showing is part of an initiative to have international productions shown in Tolliver on the big-screen televisions.

The CD contains two videos, an adaptation of Henrich Boll's "The Bridge," which will be shown in Tolliver, and a documentary called "The Water".

Mahesh Kumar Selvaraj and Chenthil Kathirvel Rajan have worked on the project for over a year with alumnus Annamalai Pugalumperumal.

"We just made the decision to do this for ourselves," Kumar said. "But the documentary serves a purpose to raise awareness of something that we take so much for granted."

Mahesh and Chenthil have also been working with local libraries to have the video CD put in their collections. Copies are currently available in Prescott Memorial Library as well as Lincoln Parish Library, located at 509 W. Alabama Ave.

Both videos are well-produced and entertaining.

Dan Erickson, director of the International Students Office, said he was impressed with the videos.

"The story was a stark portrayal of Boll's play, and I thought it was well done," Erickson said.

"The Bridge" tells a story about an injured war veteran, played by Josh Donnel, an alumnus who graduated with a degree in chemical engineering. He is assigned a menial job watching a bridge during the day and counting the number of people who walk across it.

The twist is he is not an honest man.

The entire short play is rendered in black and white to accentuate the starkness of the images involved.

A series of still images of the man is run over a monologue that describes the life that he now lives at the hands of the men who control his job.

The play takes a turn as a woman who Donnel's character refers to as his "angel," played by Anna Christian Ward, walks across his bridge.

The image floods with color. Classical music plays in the background, and it becomes a poignant and touching thing.

The second short video contained on the CD, the documentary on water, is also well-constructed and thought-provoking.

Basically, it is a series of absolutely beautiful wide-angle images of men interacting with water interrupted at points by overlaid text that tells viewers how they take water for granted.

Co-producer Chenthil said water is something people cannot afford to take for granted.

"It's something that everybody knows about, everybody needs, and nobody thinks about unless they don't have it," Chenthil said. "That's sad."

Critiques are welcomed by the producers and should be sent to thebridgeandthewater@hotmail.com.