Amit Dutta

Notes on Guler

Amit Dutta

Guler, a small principality near Kangra, was an artistic and cultural wellspring since it's accidental inception in the 15th century. Many greats like painters Pandit Seu, his sons Manaku, Nainsukh, and the poet Brajraj were born here. Today the whole system of patronage under which lofty endeavours were possible even in financially austere conditions is gone. And tragically even the physical landscape is submerged under a dam. The film seeks out some traces of the submerged past, through the memories of those left behind, a condensation of a bygone civilization.

The Man's Woman and Other Stories

Amit Dutta

Bramhaswaroop Mishra, Nitin Goel

A series of three episodes which explore the relationship between men, women and the physical and mental spaces they inhabit.

Nainsukh

Amit Dutta

Manish Soni, Nitin Goel

The 18th-century Indian painter Nainsukh of Guler receives a poetic, visually stunning tribute from a young Indian filmmaker employing an arresting pictorial language. Shot in the region where Nainsukh produced his most celebrated work, this is a meditative and meticulous recreation of the world of an artistic genius.

The Unknown Craftsman

Amit Dutta

Sunil Rana, Nitin Goel

Towards the end of the eighth century, an architect journeys across the lower Himalayas in search of the perfect site for constructing a temple, not merely as a place of worship but as a monumental record crystallizing the collective accomplishment of a civilization.

The Seventh Walk

Amit Dutta

Led by mysterious sounds and footprints, a painter wanders within a surreal space of the forest, his own paintings and oneiric spaces.

Gita Govinda

Amit Dutta

The 18th century Pahari miniatures illustrating the verses of 'Gita Govinda' by the poet Jayadeva, are also loving and intimate portraits of the verdant landscape of the Kangra Valley. Nature becomes a primary actor and the director focuses on the alchemy of the 'transformation of nature in art.'

Kramasha

Amit Dutta

Chandra Shekhar Dutta

An ascetic walks through the narrow streets of a village every morning while his family is still asleep. In his semi-somnolent state he dreams about the history of the village mixing up myths, folklore and facts.

Wittgenstein Plays Chess with Marcel Duchamp, or How Not to Do Philosophy

Amit Dutta

The project attempts to push the boundaries of cinema by juxtaposing it with ideas from philosophy, visual art, chess, mathematics, geometry, linguistics and psychology

Chitrashala: House of Paintings

Amit Dutta

When a gallery of paintings becomes emptied of its spectators, the curtains raise within the paintings.

Sonchidi

Amit Dutta

Nitin Goel, Gagan Singh Sethi

Two travelers are in search of a flying-craft, which they believe could possibly take them to the ultimate escape from the cycle of births. On their way they record their memories, dreams and fears on a sound-recorder and in a notebook.

The Museum of Imagination

Amit Dutta

Amit Dutta recorded several conversations with Prof. B.N. Goswamy, an important art historian of India, covering his entire body of work. Interspersed with his talks were also some silences. This film draws upon some of those moments of silence and weaves them into a web of ideas and images that fill the art-historian’s mindscape.

Scenes from a Sketchbook

Amit Dutta

The film is based on and inspired from the tinted brush drawings, sketches and some finished yet minimalistic works of the 18th century master miniature painter Nainsukh. Even in some of his finished paintings, the artist did not hide his corrections and afore-thoughts, which he allowed to show through a mostly untouched stark page. This film attempts the same.

Lal Bhi Udhaas Ho Sakta Hai

Amit Dutta

Ram Kumar

This film explores various aspects of litterateur and painter Ram Kumar's personality by structuring the film around his stories and paintings, traveling between fragments of his past, present, fiction and imagery. It strives of etch out the synthesis of word and image in Ram Kumar's creations, presenting it as a portrait of the artist himself. The text used in the film is from various short stories by Ram Kumar.

Ramkhind

Amit Dutta

A rare and intimate glimpse into the everyday life of the famously reclusive and creative Warli tribe. Ramkhind is a village in Thane district, a little over 100km from Mumbai. Yet in the year 2000, this village had managed to stay centuries away from the mainstream, preserving it's ancient way of life and rich ecosystem. Gods, ghosts and tigers still inhabited their world.

Drawn from Dreams

Amit Dutta

Synopsis:An eighteenth century notebook from the Western Himalayan Hills has recorded in it dreams as omens. Scenes from the waking memory of the artist seem to have enlivened dreams from a bygone era. Coming from the family ateliers of the master painter Nainsukh of Guler, this journal of dreams is interesting not only for its ethnographical documentation but also for the excellent artistic qualities of the illustrations, underlined delightfully with sound and rhythm by the director Amit Dutta.

Venice 70: Future Reloaded

Franco Maresco, John Akomfrah

Bernardo Bertolucci, Haile Gerima

Made for the Venice Film Festival's 70th anniversary, seventy filmmakers made a short film between 60 and 90 seconds long on their interpretation of the future of cinema.