Organised under Open Space Documentary Arts Programme (OSDA) programme as a tribute to Dr. B.R. Ambedkar on his 70th Mahaparinirvan Diwas
6 December 2025 | Online | 6:30 PM onwards
Facilitated by Raj & Logeshwaran
This talk is part of the ongoing AVFI series Truth in Fiction, which explores how filmmakers, writers, and thinkers negotiate reality, imagination, and responsibility in their creative practice.
SESSION OVERVIEW
T.J. Gnanavel’s journey, from a scholar of literature to a journalist, and finally to one of contemporary Indian cinema’s most compelling writer-directors, embodies a persistent search for truth. His work moves between fiction and social reality, between artistic imagination and the representation of the marginalized. This special session, Truth in Fiction, invites participants into a conversation that explores how truth is pursued, negotiated, and articulated through cinematic storytelling.
In this interaction, Gnanavel reflects on the contemporary intellectual, political and material negotiations that shapes his practice: the rigour of literary study, the discipline of journalism, and the demands of socially committed cinema. The conversation will open up his evolving practice of research, observation, character construction, narrative compression, and adaptation. We will explore how he approaches material that emerges from lived experience and structural conflict, how he listens, documents, re-interprets, and transforms these realities into cinema.
As this event is held in remembrance of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s 70th death anniversary, the session will also focus on Gnanavel’s engagement with Ambedkarite thought. How does one carry forward Ambedkar’s intellectual legacy through film? What does it mean to translate the ethics of equality, reason, and social justice into narrative form? What responsibilities arise when fiction intersects with caste-based violence or institutional structures?
Participants may also submit their questions in advance, we will take up as many as possible if time permits.
CONTRIBUTION
This session is free and open to all. Those who wish to support our work are welcome to make a voluntary contribution.
Participation
To participate, WhatsApp us with the message “Truth in Cinema” along with your name, email, and a brief introduction. We will share the meeting link upon receiving your details.
QUERIES:
For queries, if any, please write to: filminstitute@auroville.org.in
or call / message +91 9969879319 (whatsapp and telegram only)
Auroville Film Institute 