indian documentaty
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- DirectorMani KaulStarsMita VashishtMuhar BiswasRanjana SrivastavaAn impressionistic biographical look at Siddheshwari Devi (19081977), the classical Indian singer whose voice was appreciated by the maharajas and public alike. She was from Varanasi, India, known as Maa (mother). Born in 1907, she lost her parents early and was brought up by her aunt, the noted singer Rajeshwari Devi. She won many accolades during her career, including "Padma Shri" by the Government of India (1966). Despite living in a musical household, Siddheswari came to music by accident. Rajeshwari had arranged musical training for her own daughter, Kamleshwari, while Siddheswari would do small chores around the house. Once, while the noted sarangi player Siyaji Mishra, was teaching Kamleshwari, she was unable to repeat the tappa that she was being taught. Rajeshwari ran out of patience, and started to cane Kamleshwari, who cried out for help. The only person to help her was her close friend Siddheswari, who ran from the kitchen to hug her cousin, and took the thrashing on her own body. At this point, Siddheswari told her weeping cousin, "It's not so difficult to sing what Siyaji Maharaj was telling you." Siddheswari then showed her how to sing it, performing the whole tune perfectly, much to the amazement of everyone. The next day, Siyaji Maharaj came to Rajeshwari, and asked to adopt Siddheswari into his own family (they were childless). So Siddheswari moved in with the couple, eventually becoming a great friend and support for them. This moving incident was very vivid in Siddheswari's mind, and is detailed in the biography Maa, co-authored by her daughter Savita Devi.
- DirectorMani KaulStarsRobin DasAnita KanwarAshok SharmaDirector Mani Kaul poetically observes the ancient art of pottery and its deep cultural significance.
- DirectorAnand PatwardhanSince gaining independence in 1947, India has been a secular state. But now, as religious fundamentalism grips much of India's population, the greatest danger to the nation's extremely strained social fabric may come not from Sikh or Muslim separatists, but from Hindu fundamentalists who are appealing to the 83% Hindu majority to redefine India as a Hindu nation.
- DirectorAnand PatwardhanA detailed chronicling of injustices in India told in eight parts.
- DirectorAnand PatwardhanAn exploration of caste in India. The documentary begins with the suicide of Vilas Ghogre, a Dalit poet and singer, following the 1997 atrocities against the Dalit community of Ramabai in Maharashtra. It is the culmination of over 14 years of work by Anand Patwardhan.
- DirectorKhushboo RankaVinay ShuklaStarsArvind KejriwalSaurabh BhardwajPrashant BhushanA non-fiction drama chronicling the most outrageous political debut in the largest democracy in the world, "An Insignificant Man" follows Arvind Kejriwal and his insurgent party as they look to shake up Indian politics while struggling to keep their own idealism alive.
- DirectorLeslee UdwinStarsAsha DeviBadri SinghSatendraThe life and death of Jyoti Singh, an Indian medical student whose violation and murder by gang rapists exposed the violent misogyny of Indian society.
- DirectorRakesh SharmaA study of politics of hate, examining the rise and entrenchment of right-wing politics in India, by documenting the 2002 Gujarat riots and their aftermath. It specifically examines political tendencies reminiscent of early Nazi Germany.
- DirectorStalin KurupThis documentary is the most comprehensive look at the "untouchables" in India. Motivated by ancient religious edicts, no amount of governmental encouragement has been able to stem the tragic custom that separates human beings according to their birth. Those considered untouchable suffer more than isolation, they are forced to fulfill menial tasks in their communities, drink from separate containers, remove their shoes on the street as a sign of respect and perform or exhibit many other outward signs of their perceived inferiority. While the media projects a positive image of a democratic India, filmmaker Stalin K spends four years traveling the country to expose the continued oppression of the Dalits, "the broken people," in a wide variety of communities, including Sikhs, Christians and Muslims.
- DirectorVibha BakshiSON RISE is filmed in the strongly patriarchal state of Haryana, bordering India's capital, New Delhi. Illegal, yet rampant female foeticide has led to the eerie absence of girls in hundreds of villages. This skewed sex-ratio has provoked an unprecedented number of crimes against women - with the highest number of gang rapes reported in the country. Exploring these darkest corners, the film maker discovers that all is not lost: there are men who are rising to fight for women's justice. And perhaps, for the first time in their lives, are realising their greatest fight is with other men, whom they will have to combat at every step of the way. From a forward-thinking village chief and father of two daughters, fighting for women to enter the male-dominated arena of local politics - to a farmer who, in an arranged marriage, defies society by marrying a gang rape survivor. Can these glimmers of a changing paradigm in SON RISE be the rays of hope we have been looking for?
- DirectorVibha BakshiStarsKiran BediMr. Arvind GaurDipankar Gupta'Daughters of Mother India', is an Indian filmmaker's journey on the aftermath of the horrific rape and murder of a 23 year old old medical intern in Delhi on 16 December 2012. The film is India's story of resolve, hope and courage against the fight on gender violence. The film goes inside Indian society, the Government and looks at the swift and radical changes being made in the Police, the Judiciary and community groups, who are provoking for the first time, a national dialogue on the current sexist attitudes of Indian society and how to change them. For the first time, in the long history of the Police force, the Police Commissioner of the Capital of India, Delhi granted permission for a camera to be allowed inside the Delhi Police Control and Command room.
- DirectorSushmit GhoshRintu ThomasStarsMeera DeviShyamkali DeviSuneeta PrajapatiIn a cluttered news landscape dominated by men, emerges India's only newspaper run by Dalit women. Chief Reporter Meera and her journalists break traditions, redefining what it means to be powerful.
- DirectorShaunak SenStarsSalik RehmanMohammad SaudNadeem ShehzadAmidst the darkening backdrop of Delhi's apocalyptic air and escalating violence, two brothers devote their lives to protect one casualty of the turbulent times: the bird known as the Black Kite.
- DirectorShaunak Sen'Cities of Sleep' takes us into a heady world of insurgent sleeper's communities as well as the infamous 'sleep mafia' in Delhi where just securing a safe sleeping spot often becomes a question of life and death for a large number of people. The film trails the lives of two individuals, Shakeel and Ranjeet. Shakeel, a renegade homeless sleeper has for the last 7 years slept in a diverse range of improvised places like subways, under park benches, parking lots, abandoned cars and lately, at areas controlled by the sleep mafia. The film follows his attempts to secure a safe sleeping space just around the time the infamous winter rains of Delhi are due. Ranjeet runs the 'sleep-cinema' community in Loha Pul in Delhi, a huge double-story iron bridge straddling the banks of the river Yamuna. A thin strip of land under Loha Pul houses shanty cinemas where over 400 odd homeless come and sleep through the day for a nominal price. The flooding of the river Yamuna poses a threat to the people sleeping there every monsoon. The film looks at not only the tremendous social and political pressure that sleep exerts on the homeless in the city but is also a philosophical exploration of sleep at large.
- DirectorPayal KapadiaStarsBhumisuta DasL writes letters to her estranged lover. Through these letters, we get a glimpse into the drastic changes taking place around her. Merging reality with fiction, dreams, memories, fantasies and anxieties, an amorphous narrative unfolds.