Open Space Documentary Arts Programme
15.00 – 18.00 IST | 8-11 Sept 2026 | Online
Overview
Looking at any history from a practitioner’s point of view, there lies the possibility to collectively churn and map thoughts on praxis instead of walking down a museum hallway. As a practitioner one gets a chance to have a nuanced understanding of their present with its complexity of form and subjects. Also a possibility of sharpening their craft vocabulary and locating their praxis. From the post avant-garde practice, one can also look at history as a diverse palette of cultural archives and initiate a formal dialogue through their practice.
The 4-day session will see a phase by phase evolution of major trends and traditions in India Documentary filmmaking that span over a century, while India navigates through its major sociopolitical phases. From early pioneers of documentary cinema of the pre-independence era like Hiralal Sen and the zeroth form of cinema of resistance to Raj films and the emergence of British state propaganda machinery, to the formation of Films Division; tracing the need of documentary filmmaking in a newly independent democracy like India and development of its cinematic language. Coming decades saw certain forms emerging out of films from state institutions like Films Division made by established filmmakers and a new set of young filmmakers. The following decade encounter a nationwide emergency, which propelled a deluge of politically charged documentary films by new voices creating the next phase of cinema of resistance and beginning of Independent filmmaking in India. Simultaneously onset of formal film education brought in new kind of experimentations, inventing new possibilities in relooking at Indian knowledge systems and artistic traditions.
As India transited to the late-capital phase concurring with a fresh rise of right wing politics, a new wave of film and art practice emerged. A possibility of global viewership, exposure and funding opened a plethora of avenues for filmmakers and led to the proliferation of independent cinema. India joined the TV media boom. Then came the digital wave. Filmmaking became more and more affordable and accessible. A diverse kind of films emerged out of these decades. From creative documentaries made for larger TV audiences, to cinema of activism and resistance to artist’s cinema; a floodgate was opening. The first two decades of this millennium saw global collaborations in terms of networking, co-productions, explosion of film festivals, markets and distribution avenues that meant increased production and global visibility of Indian documentary cinema. Home grown non government grants and funds started supporting Indian filmmakers in a sizeable way. These developments have impacted the landscape of Indian documentary filmmaking profoundly. As the floodgate opened with new films in form of creative TV documentaries, films on socio-politically relevant subjects, a fresh wave of cinema of resistance, or cinema reflecting hyper-objects like climate crisis, geopolitics or globalization, there lies an urgent need of examining the underlying politics of these trajectories and a critical mapping in the larger sociopolitical context of the globalized world we are living and practicing in.
BASELINE CONTRIBUTION TO CONFIRM PARTICIPATION:
₹ 2500 – For Indian Participants
€ 60 – For International Participants
(We invite you to contribute over and above the baseline – voluntarily, if you wish)
CERTIFICATES:
Digital certificates of participation will be issued.
QUERIES:
For queries, if any, please write to: filminstitute@auroville.org.in
Faculty Profile
Anirban Datta is an Indian filmmaker, film educator and transdisciplinary artist whose practice is rooted in cinema and extends across photography, video, installation and performance. An alumnus of Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute (SRFTI), he made his diploma film Tetris, which premiered in the Cinefondation section of Festival de Cannes in 2006. His documentary practice includes Bhultir Khero / Chronicle of an Amnesiac, .in for motion, Wasted, BOM / One Day Ahead of Democracy and Kalikshetra, with work recognised through three National Film Awards and screenings at major international festivals and art platforms. Alongside filmmaking, he was one of the initiators of Kolkata International Performance Art Festival (KIPAF), and has developed a sustained practice of performance documentation and lens-based experimentation. His academic work brings active film practice, research and contemporary media discourse into pedagogy. Anirban has conducted workshops across film, media art institutes and universities across India, held key faculty positions at SRFTI Kolkata, FTII Pune, and KRNNIVSA Kerala.
Reading & Viewing List
Reading:
Patharekha Prasanga Chalachchitra (a Bangla magazine published in Dhaka) Hiralal Sen – First Bengali in Cinema
Dr PV Pathy (NFAI)
Docu Scene in India (IDPA & Films Division)
Documentary Films & Indian Awakening – Jag Mohan (Publications Division)
From Raj to Swaraj: The Non-fiction Film in India – BD Garga (Penguin Books)
S. Sukhdev Filmmaker a Documentary Montage – Jag Mohan (Publications Division)
Towards A Peoples Cinema – Independent Documentary and its Audience in India – ed Kasturi Basu & Dwaipayan Banerjee (Three Essays Collective)
A Fly in the Curry: Independent Documentary Film in India – KP Jayasankar and A. Monteiro (SAGE Publications India)
DigiNaka Subaltern Politics and Digital Media in Post Capitalist India – ed Anjali Monteiro, KP Jaysankar & Amit S Rai
Viewing:
Exploring India on Film, 1899-1947
Birju Maharaj – Chidananda Dasgupta (FD 1972, NFAI restoration print available on YouTube)
Mukti Chai – Utpalendu chakraborty (1977)
Hungry Tide – Gautam Ghosh (1977)
Arrival – Mani Kaul (Films Division 1978, available on YouTube)
Zameer Ke Bandi / Prisoners of Conscience (India, 1978) Anand Patwardhan
An Indian Story – Suhasini Mulay, Tapan Bose (1981)
Molkarein – Deepa Dhanraj (1981)
Kya Hua Is Shaher Ko – Deepa Dhanraj (1986)
Siddheswari – Mani Kaul (1990)
11 Miles Ruchir Joshi (1990)
Kamalabai – Reena Mohan (1992)
Raam ke Naam – Anand Patwardhan (1992)
Father Son and the Holy War – Anand Patwardhan (1996)
Blue Black Yellow – RV Ramani (1999)
Bramha Vishnu Shiva – RV Ramani (1999)
City of Photos – Nishtha Jain (2004)
John and Jane – Ashim Ahluwalia (2005)
AFSPA – Haobam Paban Kumar (2005)
7 Islands and a Metro – Madhusree Dutta (2006)
Bilal – Saurav Sarangi (2008)
Listeners Tale – Arghya Basu (2008)
.in for motion – Anirban Datta (2008)
Vertical City – Abhijit Mukul Kishore (2011)
My Camera & Tsuami – RV Ramani (2011)
Bom/One Day Ahead of Democracy – Amlan Datta (2011)
Rangbhoomi – Kamal Swaroop (2013)
Even Red Can Be Sad – Amit Datta (2015)