Anand Patwardhan

[http://www.patwardhan.com Anand Patwardhan] (b. 1950) is an Indian documentary filmmaker, most known for his activism through social action documentaries on topics ranging from corruption, slums dwellers, nuclear arms race, citizen activism to communalism [ [http://www.tehelka.com/story_main34.asp?filename=Ws1361007All_the.asp Interview] Tehelka October 13, 2007.] [ [http://berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/10/13_patwardhan.shtml 'Michael Moore’ of India, screening and Interview] University of California, Berkeley October 13, 2004.] [ [http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/artists/the_messengers_of_bad_news/ Silverdocs Documentary Film Festival] American University School of Communication, June 16, 2004.] [ [http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/Culture/Cinema/AnandP.html Anand Patwardhan] University of California, Los Angeles] , noted amongst these are "Ram ke Nam" ('In the Name of God' (1992), "Pitr, Putr aur Dharmayuddha" ('Father, Son and Holy War') (1995) and War and Peace (2002) [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B00EFDB103BF935A15755C0A9659C8B63 Review] The New York Times, June 26, 2003.] , which have won several national and International awards.

Biography

Early Life and Education

Anand Patwardhan was born in 1950, in Bombay, Maharashtra.

He completed a B.A. in English literature at Bombay University in 1970, a B.A. in Sociology at Brandeis University in 1972, and an M.A. in Communication studies at McGill University in 1982 [ [http://www.frif.com/subjects/patw.html Films of Anand Patwardhan] Icarus Films, New York.] [ [http://www.patwardhan.com/about/index.htm About Anand] Official website.] .

He participated in the anti-Vietnam War movement from 1970–1972; as a volunteer in Caesar Chavez’ United Farm Workers Union in 1972; in Kishore Bharati, a rural development and education project in Central India in 1972–1974; and other movements for civil liberties and democratic rights.

Films of Anand Patwardhan

Virtually all his films faced censorship by the Indian authorities but were finally cleared after legal action. His film, ‘Bombay Our City’, has been shown on TV, after a four year court case , while, 'Father Son and the Holy war' (1995), was adjudged in 2004, as one of 50 most memorable international documentaries of all time, by DOX, Documentary film magazine; though it was shown on India’s National Network, Doordarshan only in the year 2006, 11 years after its making, and that too after a prolonged court battle, which lasted 8 years, and ended with nation’s Supreme Court ordering the state-owned media, to telecast the film without any cuts, as it has earlier suggest. [ [http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2318/stories/20060922003609900.htm Father, Son and Holy War] The Frontline, The Hindu, September, 2006.]

His next important film, [http://www.patwardhan.com/films/warpeace.htm 'War and Peace'] made in 2002, brought him in the news once again, when the CBFC India (Central Board for Film Certification, or the Censor Board), refused to certify the film without making 21 cuts [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D04E4D6143CF937A15751C1A9649C8B63 Filmmaker's Battle to Tell India's Story in India] The New York Times, December 24, 2002.] . As always, [http://www.patwardhan.com/Censorship/Index_Censorship.htm Patwardhan took the government to court] , hence it was banned for two years, however, after a court battle, and Anand won the right to screen his film without a single cut. As with his previous film, Patwardhan successfully fought in court, which eventually forced a reluctant national broadcaster, Doordarshan, to show his film on their national network through its ruling in June 2003 [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3142039.stm Alone against India's nuclear nationalism] BBC News, August 12, 2003. ] [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/storyville/anand-patwardhan.shtml Director Interview] BBC Four, August 4, 2003. ] [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/storyville/war-and-peace.shtml Film Review] BBC Four, 2002.] , it was commercially released in multiplexes in 2005 [http://www.tehelka.com/story_main13.asp?filename=In070205Short_is.asp War and Peace hits the box office for the first time in India] Tehelka, June 25, 2005.]

Filmography

* 1971: 'Waves of Revolution' ("Kraanti Ki Tarangein"), this film first of his films was on government repression in Bihar Movement [ [http://www.patwardhan.com/reviews/Waves_indiatoday.htm Review] India Today] .
* 1978: 'Prisoners of Conscience' ("Zameer ke Bandi"), a film on political prisoners in The Emergency (India)
** The Tyne Award, Tyneside Festival, U.K., 1982 [ [http://www.patwardhan.com/films/index.htm Films Index] Official website.] .
* 1981: [http://www.patwardhan.com/films/timetorise.htm 'A Time to Rise' ("Uthan da Vela")] : Concerns Indian immigrant farm workers’ efforts to unionize in Canada.
** Grand Prize: Tyneside International Film Festival, UK in 1982
** Silver Dove: Leipzig International Film Festival in 1982.
* 1985: [http://www.patwardhan.com/films/bombayourcity.htm '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: [http://www.patwardhan.com/films/inmemoryoffriends.htm '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 [http://www.sacw.net/i_aii/Anand.html Anand Patwardhan Films] South Asia Citizens Web .
** Special Jury Award, Mannheim International Film festival, 1990
* 1992: [http://www.patwardhan.com/films/RamkeNam.htm "Ram ke Nam" ('In the Name of God')] . On the rise of [http://www.antiwar.com/ips/devraj.php?articleid=3511 Hindu fundamentalism] 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 [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0666674/awards Awards] imdb.com. ] , 1993
** Citizen's Prize, Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, 1993.
* 1993: We are not your Monkeys: A dalit critic to epic Ramayana through a music video.
* 1995: [http://www.patwardhan.com/films/fathersonholywar.htm "Pitr, Putr aur Dharmayuddha" ('Father, Son and Holy War')] Concerns the patriarchal roots of violence in India.
** National Film Award for Best Film on Social Issues and National Film Award for Best Investigative Film, 1996;
** Toronto Film Festival, 1994 [ [http://im.rediff.com/us/2001/oct/06us1.htm Screening of screen Patwardhan's films at Stanford University] Rediff.com, October 2001 ]
** Special Jury Prize, Vancouver Film Festival, 1994 [ [http://www.frif.com/cat97/f-j/father__.html Father, Son and Holy War – Review and Awards] ]
** Special Jury Award, Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, 1995
** Grand Prize, Jerusalem International Film Festival, 1996.
* 1996: [http://www.patwardhan.com/films/narmadadiary.htm 'A Narmada Diary'] : Introduces the Narmada Bachao Andolan of Gujarat.
** Grand Prize at the [http://www.earth-vision.jp/top-e.htm Earth Vision Film Festival] in 1996;
** Filmfare Award for Best Documentary 1996.
* 1996: 'Occupation: Mill Worker': Chronicles the actions of mill workers who, after a four-year lockout, 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: [http://www.patwardhan.com/films/warpeace.htm 'War and Peace', "Jang Aur Aman"] . Traces the development of nuclear weapons by India and Pakistan.
** 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 [ [http://www.karafilmfest.com/pastkaras_2003/pastkaras_2003_awardcitations.shtml 3rd KaraFilm Festival] Karachi International Film Festival, website. ]
** National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film, India, 2004, [ [http://www.dff.nic.in/51nationalfilmawards.htm 51st National Film Awards - 2004] Official listings Directorate of Film Festivals Official website.] etc.

References

* [http://newcafe.org/partners/guest/motet.cgi?show+The_D-Word+29+1- Online conference] with Anand Patwardhan at The D-Word

Online writings

* [http://publications.aidindia.org/content/view/528/56/ About Binayak Sen and Shankar Guha Niyogi]

External links

* [http://www.patwardhan.com/ Anand Patwardhan website]
*
* [http://www.frif.com/subjects/patw.html Films by Anand Patwardhan]