Anand Patwardhan
2021
राम के नाम
Anand Patwardhan
The film explores the campaign waged by the Hindu right-wing organisation Vishva Hindu Parishad to build a Ram temple at the site of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, as well as the communal violence that it triggered. A couple of months after Ram ke Naam was released, VHP activists demolished the Babri Masjid in 1992, provoking further violence.
In the Name of God
जय भीम कॉम्रेड
Anand Patwardhan
Dalits, in the Indian caste system, belong to the lowest social sphere and therefore they always endure discrimination as well as the violation of their Human Rights. Also known as “the untouchable,” this group was vindicated by Bihmrao Ambedkar, a Dalit who earned doctorate degrees abroad and fought for the emancipation of his people. In 1997 a statue made for honoring him was desecrated, unleashing the rage of the Dalit community; but instead of getting support by the authorities, ten persons were murdered. This documentary took 14 years to be made and it captures the music and poetry of this people, showing a tradition against superstition and religious bigotry that has strived since the times of Buda.
Jai Bhim Comrade
A Time To Rise
Jim Monro, Anand Patwardhan
On April 6, 1980, the Canadian Farmworkers Union came into existence. This film documents the conditions among Chinese and East Indian immigrant workers in British Columbia that provoked the formation of the union, and the response of growers and labor contractors to the threat of unionization. Made over a period of two years, the film is eloquent testimony to the progress of the workers’ movement from the first stirrings of militancy to the energetic canvassing of union members.
A Time To Rise
War and Peace
Anand Patwardhan
Anand Patwardhan
Documentary about the nuclear sabre-rattling that has been going on between India and Pakistan. Comprised mostly of interviews with average folks on the street, the movie superbly demonstrates the gulf between the people's will and the greed of those in power.
War and Peace
Narmada Diary
Anand Patwardhan, Simantini Dhuru
"Narmada Diary" introduces the Narmada Bachao Andolan (the Save the Narmada Movement), which has spearheaded the agitation against the Sardar Sarovar Dam. As government resettlement programs prove inadequate, the Narmada Bachao Andolan has emerged as one of the most dynamic struggles in India today. With non-violent protests and a determination to drown rather than to leave their homes and land, the people of the Narmada valley have become symbols of a global struggle against unjust development.
Narmada Diary
Zameer ke Bandi
Anand Patwardhan
An early Patwardhan documentary completed in 1978, Prisoners of Conscience focuses on the state of emergency imposed by Indira Ghandi from June 1975 through March 1977. During this time over 100,000 people were arrested without charge and imprisoned without trial. They were released only by the government that replaced Ghandi's. The film also shows that political prisoners existed in India before the state of emergency and continued after the new government was elected.
Prisoners of Conscience
Fishing: In the Sea of Greed
Anand Patwardhan
Fishing in the Sea of Greed documents 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. Under the leadership of the National Fishworkers Forum and the World Forum of Fishworkers and Fish Harvesters, workers are fighting not only for their jobs, but for the survival of the world’s coastal communities and ecosystems.
Fishing: In the Sea of Greed
