The Anand Patwardhan Collection
View the April 29, 2021 Docuseek webinar with Anand Patwardhan
Discover the complete filmography of Anand Patwardhan, for almost 50 years India'’s most important — and to some, controversial — documentary filmmaker.
From his first film Waves of Revolution made in 1974 through his most recent film Reason completed in 2018, Patwardhan has recorded the modern history of India and illuminated inconvenient truths of its society, from the injustices of poverty and the caste system, to the rise of militarism, Hindu fundamentalism, nationalism and an extremist, repressive government.
Virtually all of Patwardhan’s films have faced state censorship and he has had to wage unrelenting legal battles to make them available for screening in India, at all.
And though feted by awards and retrospectives internationally, at the Tate Modern in London or the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam, for example, his work is too little known here in the United States.
This 19-film collection includes major award-winners: Reason (Best Feature-Length Documentary, IDFA); Jai Bhim Comrade; War and Peace; A Narmada Diary; Father, Son and Holy War; In the Name of God; Bombay Our City; and Prisoners of Conscience among others. Mubi calls Reason "a sprawling compendium in chapters of the cultures of religious mystification and fervent Hindu nationalism that plague today's India, and a brave attempt, per its title, to advocate for rational thought and truth-telling. A powerful work that bears the impact of the dark, messy, and dangerous fire being stoked in [Patwardhan's] country that has analogies in many others. Reason portrays a world that needs to be changed, and by portraying it, becomes a tool for that change."
Anand Patwardhan's film work provides an unparalleled portrait of contemporary India.
The Anand Patwardhan Collection collection includes the following titles:
A Narmada DiaryIntroduces the Save Narmada Movement which has spearheaded the agitation against the Sardar Sarover Dam in western India.
A Time to RiseAn eloquent testimony to the progress of the workers’ movement among Chinese and East Indian immigrant workers in British Columbia.
Bombay Our CityTells the story of the daily battle for survival of the 4 million slum dwellers of Bombay who make up half the city’s population.
Children of MandalaA message from the economically displaced children of a slum colony in Mumbai.
Father, Son and Holy War: Hero PharmacyA film about men, religion and violence.
Father, Son and Holy War: Trial by FireA film about men, religion and violence.
Fishing: In the Sea of GreedDocuments the response of one fishing community in India to the “rape and run” industries that have begun to dominate their livelihood and decimate their environment.
Images You Didn't SeeA 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.
In Memory of FriendsDocuments the violence and terror in Punjab, India – a land torn apart by religious fundamentalists and a repressive government.
In the Name of GodFocuses on the campaign waged by the militant Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to destroy a 16th century mosque in Ayodhya said to have been built by Babar, the first Mughal Emperor of India.
Visit the title page to preview any of the titles above.
