Anand Patwardhan
Anand Patwardhan (born 18 February 1950) is an Indian documentary filmmaker known for his socio-political, human rights-oriented films. Some of his films explore the rise of religious fundamentalism, sectarianism and casteism in India, while others investigate nuclear nationalism and unsustainable development.[1][2][3][4] Notable films include Bombay: Our City (Hamara Shahar) (1985), In Memory of Friends (1990), In the Name of God (Ram ke Nam) (1992), Father, Son, and Holy War (1995), A Narmada Diary (1995), War and Peace (2002) and Jai Bhim Comrade (2011), which have won national and international awards.
Anand Patwardhan | |
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Anand Patwardhan | |
Born | |
Alma mater | University of Mumbai, Brandeis University, McGill University |
Occupation | Filmmaker |
Known for | Documentary filmmaking |
Biography
Patwardhan was born on 18 February 1950, in Mumbai, Maharashtra.[5] He completed a B.A. in English literature at Mumbai University in 1970, a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology at Brandeis University in 1972, and a Master of Arts in Communication Studies at McGill University in 1982.[4][6][7][8][9]
Films
Virtually all of Patwardhan's documentary films have faced censorship from the Indian government, eventually being cleared after legal action. His film Bombay: Our City was shown on TV after a four-year court case,[10] while Father, Son, and Holy War (1995) was adjudged in 2004 as one of 50 most memorable international documentaries of all time by DOX, Europe's leading documentary film magazine. Father, Son, and Holy War was shown on India's National Network, Doordarshan, only in the year 2006, 11 years after its making, after a prolonged court battle which lasted ten years and ended with the nation's Supreme Court ordering the network to telecast the film without any cuts.[11]
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), refused to certify his next film, War and Peace, released in 2002. The board demanded 21 cuts before it would be certified.[12] Patwardhan took the government to court, leading to the film being banned for over a year.[13] However, after a court battle, Patwardhan won the right to screen his film without a single cut.[14][15][16] As with his previous films, Patwardhan also successfully fought to force a reluctant national broadcaster, Doordarshan, to show this film on their national network. It was commercially released in multiplexes in 2005.[17]
His 2011 documentary, Jai Bhim Comrade, was based on a police firing incident against Dalits at Ramabai Colony in Mumbai in 1997. The film, which took 14 years to complete, is considered by many to be a watershed in Patwardhan's long career.[18] In 2013 the Sheffield International Film Festival honoured Patwardhan with an Inspiration Award.[19] In 2014 the Mumbai International Film Festival honoured him with the V. Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award.[20]
Upon being asked in a BFI interview to deliver a message for future documentary filmmakers, Patwardhan famously replied, "No message really. Do it only if it burns when you don't."[21]
Filmography
- 1971: "Waves of Revolution" (Kraanti Ki Tarangein): This film was on government repression in Bihar Movement.[22]
- 1978: "Prisoners of Conscience" (Zameer ke Bandi): a film on political prisoners in The Emergency (India)
- The Tyne Award, Tyneside Festival, UK, 1982.[23]
- 1981: "A Time to Rise" (Uthan da Vela)]: Concerns Indian immigrant farm workers' efforts to unionise in Canada.
- Grand Prize: Tyneside International Film Festival, UK in 1982
- Silver Dove: Leipzig International Film Festival in 1982.
- 1985: "Bombay: Our City" (Hamara Shahar): Everyday survival issues of slum dwellers in Bombay.
- National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film 1986
- Special Jury Award, Cinema du reel, France, 1986
- Filmfare Award for Best Documentary, 1986
- 1990: 'In Memory of Friends' (Una Mitran Di Yaad Pyaari): On rebuilding communal harmony in Punjab.
- National Film Award for Best Investigative Film, 1990
- Silver Conch, Mumbai International Film Festival in 1990 Anand Patwardhan Films.
- Special Jury Award, Mannheim International Film festival, 1990
- 1992: "In the Name of God" (Ram ke Nam): On the rise of Hindu Nationalism and the demolition of the Babri Mosque.
- National Film Award for Best Investigative Film, 1992
- Filmfare Award for Best Documentary 1996
- Best Documentary Film at Fribourg International Film Festival,[24] 1993
- Citizen's Prize, Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, 1993.
- 1993: We are not your Monkeys: A Dalit critique of the epic Ramayana through a music video.
- 1995: Father, Son, and Holy War
- National Film Award for Best Film on Social Issues and National Film Award for Best Investigative Film, 1996
- Toronto Film Festival, 1994[25]
- Special Jury Prize, Vancouver Film Festival, 1994[26]
- Special Jury Award, Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, 1995
- Grand Prize, Jerusalem International Film Festival, 1996.
- Audience Award, Sheffield International Film Festival, 2010
- 1996: A Narmada Diary : Introduces the Narmada Bachao Andolan of Gujarat.
- Grand Prize at the Earth Vision Film Festival in 1996.[27]
- Filmfare Award for Best Documentary 1996.
- 1996: Occupation: Mill Worker : Chronicles the actions of mill workers who, after a four-year lock-out, forcibly occupied The New Great Eastern Mill in India.
- 1998: Fishing: In the Sea of Greed: Response of fishing communities in India and Bangladesh, to industrial-scale fishing.
- 1998: Ribbons for Peace: An anti-nuke music video.
- 2002: War and Peace
- Grand Prize at the Earth Vision Film Festival in 2002
- Best Film at Mumbai International Film Festival in 2002
- FIPRESCI International Critics' Award at Sydney Film Festival in 2002
- Best Documentary in Karachi International Film Festival in 2003[28]
- National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film, India, 2004,[29] etc.
- 2006: Images You Didn't See : Music video that interprets images gleaned from the net-images that either never appear in the mainstream media, or images whose import are masked behind a velvet curtain of global infotainment.
- 2009: Children of Mandala: A message from the economically displaced children of a slum colony in Mumbai.
- 2011: Jai Bhim Comrade: a documentary film based on a real incident – the killing of 10 Dalits by police in Mumbai, 1997.[30][31]
- Ram Bahadur Grand Prize, Film South Asia, Kathmandu, Nepal, 2011[32]
- Best Film/Video, Mumbai International Film Festival, India, 2012
- Firebird Award for Best documentary, Hong Kong Film Festival, 2012[33]
- Special Jury Prize, National Film Awards, India, 2012[34]
- Bartok Prize, Jean Rouch Film International Film Festival, 2012[35]
- 2018: Reason / Vivek: the war between faith and rationality.[36] An eight-part documentary.
- IDFA Award for best feature-length documentary, 2018[37]
- Audience Award at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, 2019[38]
References
- Interview Tehelka 13 October 2007.
- 'Michael Moore' of India, screening and Interview University of California, Berkeley 13 October 2004.
- Silverdocs Documentary Film Festival Archived 26 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine American University School of Communication 16 June 2004.
- "Manas: Culture, Indian Cinema-Anand Patwardhan". ucla.edu.
- Interview with Indian director Anand Patwardhan Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine, BFI, 5 May 2015.
- Films of Anand Patwardhan Archived 9 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine Icarus Films, New York.
- About Anand Official website.
- Documentary Voices- Anand Patwardhan.
- "About Anand". patwardhan.com.
- "Tehelka - The People's Paper". tehelka.com. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012.
- http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2318/stories/20060922003609900.htm Father, Son and Holy War] Archived 18 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine The Frontline, The Hindu, September 2006.
- Filmmaker's Battle to Tell India's Story in India The New York Times 24 December 2002.
- Censorship and Litigation
- Alone against India's nuclear nationalism BBC News 12 August 2003.
- Director Interview BBC Four, 4 August 2003.
- Film Review BBC Four, 2002.
- War and Peace hits the box office for the first time in India Tehelka, 25 June 2005.
- "Dubai International Film Festival". Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
- "Sheffield Doc/Fest: Sheffield International Documentary Festival". 6 February 2015. Archived from the original on 6 February 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
- "Anand wins Lifetime Achievement Award at the Mumbai International Film Festival, 2014 | Films of Anand Patwardhan". Retrieved 14 January 2020.
- Earth vision: interview with Anand Patwardhan BFI 5 May 2015.
- "Articles and Reviews". patwardhan.com.
- Films Index Official website.
- Awards imdb.com.
- Screening of screen Patwardhan's films at Stanford University Rediff.com, October 2001
- "FRIF". Archived from the original on 13 May 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
- . 6 February 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20070206200347/http://www.earth-vision.jp/top-e.htm. Archived from the original on 6 February 2007. Retrieved 15 February 2020. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - 3rd KaraFilm Festival Karachi International Film Festival, website.
- 51st National Film Awards - 2004 Archived 1 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine Official listings Directorate of Film Festivals Official website.
- Kumar, Sunalini (21 March 2012). "Jai Bhim, Comrade Patwardhan « Kafila". kafila.org. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012.
- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Inheriting-injustice-A-chilling-film-on-Indias-Dalits/articleshow/11459368.cms
- Ram Bahadur Trophy for Best Film, Festival of South-Asian Documentaries, 2011, Film South Asia, retrieved 1 January 2014
- Golden Firebird Award, Hong Kong International Film Festival, 2012, IMDb, retrieved 1 January 2014
- "59th National Film Awards for the Year 2011 Announced" (Press release). Press Information Bureau (PIB), India. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
- Palmarès / Award-winning films 2012, Jean Rouch Film International Film Festival, retrieved 1 January 2014
- "Films of Anand Patwardhan". Retrieved 2 June 2019.
- Damon Wise, "IDFA Awards 2018: The Jury Sees 'Reason'", Variety, 21 November 2018.
- "17th Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles Winners Announced | LATF USA". latfusa.com. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
- "Academy invites record 774 new members; 39 percent female, 30 percent people color". Hollywood Reporter. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
External links
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Anand Patwardhan |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Anand Patwardhan. |
Websites on Anand Patwardhan's work
Interviews
- Anand Patwardhan interviewed by Chandana Mathur for SAMAR Magazine, Winter 1992
- Anand Patwardhan, the 'Michael Moore of India,' brings his hard-hitting documentary films to campus - UB Berkeley News
- Director's Interview- BBC interview
- All the dire predictions of communal carnage made in my film came true
- Interview: Firebrand filmmaker Anand Patwardhan CNNGO Website
- A voice above the din, Indian Express
- Firebrand filmmaker Anand Patwardhan - Coilation for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace Website
- It Doesn't Have To Be High Art For It To Be Useful - Indymedia
- Interview with Anand Patwardhan
- Filmmaker as activist - The Hindu
- Battling the bomb - Montreal Mirror
- Of The 200 Killed In Mumbai, A High Number Were Muslims - Tehelka Interview, 2008
Writings
- Monkey Business: Cross Currents Website
- Gandhi: Film as Theology - Reprinted from Economic and Political Weekly Vol.XVIII (1983)
- Terror: The Aftermath
- The Good Doctor of Chhattisgarh - Association for India's Development Website
- Films for freedom
- Destruction of Buddhist monuments in Afghanistan and the Babri Masjid
- Festivals in contrast - The Hindu
Reviews
Video clips
- War and Peace Video Clip - Ekta Online
- War and Peace on YouTube
- Bombay: Our City, 1985 on YouTube
- Ribbon for Peace on YouTube
- Patwardhan on how he avoided arrest during emergency on YouTube
- Ram Ke Naam (In the Name of God), 1991, 75 minutes, complete Hindi version on director's channel) on YouTube
- Vivek-Reason on YouTube