Pravahi is a film that documents and cinematically interperts the dance of Alarmel Valli, one of India’s foremost Bharatanatyam dancer.
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Pravahi is a film that documents and cinematically interperts the dance of Alarmel Valli, one of India’s foremost Bharatanatyam dancer.
The film nostalgically traverses the unique tradition of the Punjab, in which the Mirasans cry on death, bring laughter at birth and marriage and bridge communities. Today, children of Mirasans are struggling to survive with dwindling patronage and are moving out from family space to public space.
A message from the economically displaced children of a slum colony in Mumbai who are educating themselves in the face of government apathy.
Actuality film showing a busy Salvation Army parade in a rural village under the British Raj.
Tracing the memefication, redubbing and recycling of the final scene of Hindi box office hit Krantiveer (Brave Revolutionary), Kush Badhwar and Renu Savant call the authority of authorial voice into question, and unveil the power of subjective interpretation.
Amar Lenin is a 1970 black and white documentary film directed by film director Ritwik Ghatak made for Government of West Bengal in the centenary year (1970) of the birth of Vladimir Lenin.
What makes a body human? This science-fiction fable shot in China foreshows the rise of AI. Time behaves fluidly as we travel into the near future in the company of an unusual pair: Blue and her friend, a mannequin named Lucy.
The main focus of the documentary is based on the adventures life of this gallant soldier Brig. Pritam Singh (Saviour of Poonch, Sher Baccha, nick named by residents of Poonch). who was born on 5th October 1911 in village Dina in district Ferozepur, Punjab. He was commissioned in the Punjab Regiment in 1937 and served during the 2nd World War in North Western Frontier Provence and Italy. He was posted in Singapore during 1942 and badly wounded in an air raid during the fighting and taken as prisoner of War by the Japanese.
a filmmaker setting out to capture the life of demolition worker, an immigrant whose close friends and fellow workers went missing. As the filmmaker attempts to do so, the production faces many symbolic and frustrating obstacles in between. Disheartened, the filmmaker departs the site—defeated, exhausted, and grieving the story they couldn’t tell.
Expounding a resistance movement in a viewpoint most associated with innocence.
Over sixty million Indians belong to communities imprisoned by the British as "criminals by birth." The Chhara of Ahmedabad, in Western India, are one of 198 such "Criminal Tribes." Declaring that they are "born actors," not "born criminals," a group of Chhara youth have turned to street theater in their fight against police brutality, corruption, and the stigma of criminality — a stigma internalized by their own grandparents. "Please Don't Beat Me, Sir!" follows the lives of these young actors and their families as they take their struggle to the streets, hoping their plays will spark a revolution.
The communal riots that reduced Bombay into two distinct communities in December '92 and January '93 also created an underclass of citizens. During this time, Behrampada a slum colony in the city's western suburb with its predominantly (80%) Muslim population was cast as the villain by the majoritarian media and the communal forces. I Live In Behrampada traces the history of this Muslim ghetto which was first populated in 1950 and grew through the efforts of the slum dwellers who turned the slimy marsh land into solid ground. But in the face of rapid development yesterday’s pathfinders have become today’s interlopers. Is the dividing line language, culture and religion or class?
Sikh Musical Heritage: The Untold Story is an in-depth look at the history of traditional Sikh instrumentation and its crucial role in performing the devotional singing known as Kirtan of the Sikh Scripture, Guru Granth Sahib.
Contemporary economic conditions in Nepal are examined with documentary images, interviews, and narration. There has been, for many years, a labour migration from across Nepal to India ’s cities. This short film is set in the underground parking lot of an apartment building in Bangalore, in South India. One Way follows the livelihood of a security guard named Shyam Bahadur, who lives with the rest of his family in the electric switching room of an apartment block, to whom he provides service for the sake of survival. The narrative of the journey he made 35 years ago, from the mountains of Nepal to the southern plateau of Bangalore, punctuates his day-to-day life in and out of the basement. As his personal story unfolds, the hills of Nepal are being rocked by “the people’s war,” yet another historical disturbances that has forced Nepalis to emigrate for work.
Tree planting in Rajasthan, India, has become a symbol of freedom in the middle of the desert. Families in this community have abandoned the belief that the birth of a girl is a curse.
Fatima has become an activist to challenge sex trade in her community. Married off to a pimp as a child-bride and expected to become a sex-worker by her in-laws, she has a genuine knowledge of and access to the women in her community. Fatima tries desperately hard to prevent her children going into the sex trade. She divorces her husband and as we follow her personal ups and downs: falling in love again, trying to start a new family, we find out more about why she chose to fight against the abuse and exploitation that has become systemic in her community. Despite the forces of police corruption and community ties hampering her efforts, Fatima appears to be rewarded both as an activist and in her personal life. But there is growing resentment and Fatima's hopes appear to be constantly overwhelmed by the challenges facing her and her new family.
Documentary on the food shortage in India.
The story of a community that has battled natural adversities and built a model of self-sustenance.
The idea of determinism and freedom in the Khayal tradition of Hindustani music.
In Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills, former caving guide Banyllashisha transforms into a passionate advocate for cave conservation. Through her eyes, the film traces her journey from leading tourists to protecting fragile ecosystems.
For some, India’s single screen cinemas are a legacy to be celebrated and preserved. For others, they remain a place to see movies. Yet others remember that it was within those crumbling edifices that the magic of the movies was first discovered, and deep, lasting connections made. Cinema Pe Cinema meanders through theatres in small towns and big cities across India, creating a memoryscape of women and men whose lives have been touched by single screen cinemas. As they reminisce about film-going and its connections to their lives, the film becomes an act of resistance against forgetting single screen cinema theatres as they shutter down across India. An effort to keep the memories of some films alive through traces of their audio and visual ephemera. A shared cinematic space in which diverse audiences speak of single screen theatre-going experiences that often carry forward into multiplex cinemas in these polarised times.
A documentary following a young mountaineer, Yashwanth Naik, on an expedition to Mount Reo Purgyil in Himachal Pradesh.
This documentary depicts the 50-year career of Indian photographer Raghu Rai, a staple at the illustrious Magnum Photos Agency, but also his relationship with his daughter and the film’s director, Avani Rai. The camera both unites and separates their generations.
Nandita Kumar is a new-media artist who works at the intersection art, science, technology, and community to creates interactive installations. She explores the elemental process through which human beings construct meaning from their experiences, by creating sensory narratives through the usage of sound, video / animation, and performance, smartphone apps, customized motherboards, solar / microwave sensors. Her interest lies in propelling the human race towards a sustainable development, which not only focuses on environmental protection but also on social development. Her process envisions a desirable future state for human societies in which living conditions and resource-use continue to meet human needs without undermining the "integrity, stability and beauty" of natural biotic systems.
A Documentary Film by ULB FILMS Presents, the story is about the plight of Sambalpuri handloom weavers who are struggling for their survival when their hereditary profession sounds death knell. Through this film we have tried to aware everybody and depict the hard work and dedication of the weavers to save the life of a centuries old famous traditional art.
In Nagaland stones are deemed to be reminders of what they have seen. This documentary traces modern manifestations of recorded memory and how the past lingers on.
King George V and Queen Mary hold ceremonial court in Delhi.
‘I cannot give you my Forest’ is a modern day rendition of the David and Goliath story, played out in an Orwellian setting. The film is an intimate poetic window into the lives of the Kondh adivasis in Odisha- who eschew the duality of Man and Nature. The Kondh have internalised the Forest – pacing the rhythms of their lives with the cycle of the seasons. The Forest is a metaphor for their identity and their sovereignty. Against the foil of the bloodshed in what the Indian government calls the ‘Red Corridor’, their philosophy gives a counterpoint to the dominant discourse.
History, problems and prospects of gold mining in Thariode, Wayanad.
Kerala, with its lush landscapes, has seen many migrate abroad for work, creating local labor shortages filled by distant migrants. These workers endure isolation, discrimination and uncertainty, often overlooked beyond their labour. Yet, amid struggle, they forge bonds, share stories, and discover solace in fleeting joys.
Telugu Film Director Vamsy, reminisces about his early days as an Assistant Director Working at "Seethakoka Chilaka" sets with his Mentor Bharathi Raja and how he made a Unique Trailer Cut for the Film.
Jabali is a documentary on Jabalpur and its people. It explores the city's various cultures and perspectives.
Traveling the length and breadth of the country, S. Sukhdev constructs, a panoramic, non-narrated study of Indian life in the late 1960s. Shot across villages, deserts, countryside, and cities, the film observes daily labor, leisure, and movement without commentary, allowing humor, contradiction, and social texture to emerge organically. The result is a sensory encounter with India poised between inherited tradition and accelerating modernity.
KHARVAN is a mixed-media documentary exploring the coexistence between smooth-coated otters and the ancient Khazan ecosystem of Goa. Blending live-action and animation, the film delves into the unique socio-ecological balance of these human-engineered wetlands, highlighting their rich biodiversity, cultural heritage, and the challenges they face today. Through a narrative that intertwines wildlife, local traditions, and conservation, KHARVAN tells a captivating story of harmony, resilience, and the urgent need to protect the otters living in these ecosystems.
A watchman at an apartment complex in Assam, India, spends an ordinary evening. A surreal, expressionistic landscape unfolds.
Residing within the confines of a dimly lit night shop in Brussels, an undocumented Indian immigrant, fondly known as Happy, aspires to provide a bright future for his wife and daughter back home. Yet, the ever-present threat of discovery and his longing for his beloved family inflict fatigue, evoking surreal visions and sounds.
The constant ricocheting between hopelessness and optimism continues to contaminate the ordinariness of the everyday. Barretto focuses on the aftermath of her father having been diagnosed with Depression and Bipolar disorder some years prior. In the early years her mother had taken on the role of being the primary caregiver and thereby also taken on the burden of shielding others in the family from the fallout of this illness. But now having grown up, the responsibility of caring is expected to be shifted on to the daughter, the only other woman in the family.
Shut up, Sona is a tongue-in-cheek take at a feisty female singer's unrelenting fight for an equal space in modern day India, a country deeply uncomfortable with her emancipation.
What does it mean to perform socialist ‘agit-prop’ theatre in India in a globalized era of increasing intolerance and inequality? Natak Jari Hai is a documentary about JANAM (The People’s Theatre Front), the little theatre group that never stopped performing in the face of dramatic political transformation and personal tragedy. The film explores the motivations and ideals of the JANAM actors and their vision of resistance and change as they perform their ‘People’s Theatre’ in diverse parts of India. It brings to life the world of socialist theatre through the words of JANAM’s members, and through a reflective portrayal of the group’s greatest tragedy - the assassination of its convenor Safdar Hashmi in 1989.
The film celebrates the express train, Deccan Queen which connects Pune with Mumbai, and provides an important link between the two cities. The train is part of everyday life of many people living in these principal cities of Western Maharashtra.
Tiger Tiger follows Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, renowned big cat conservationist, as he travels deep into the primordial landscape of the Sundarbans - a tidal mangrove forest spanning the India-Bangladesh border. Known as one of the most dangerous places on Earth, the Sundarbans is the domain of what may be the largest, wildest remaining tiger population. Only 3,000 tigers remain in the wild throughout Asia, and as Alan journeys through the remote landscape of the Sundarbans, he confronts the treacherous terrain both tiger and man must navigate in their mutual struggle to survive. This may be his last journey; diagnosed with leukemia, Alan must face his own mortality as he races to save one of the world's most charismatic animals from the razor's edge of extinction.
'Dream Factory' is a personal essay on the power of storytelling and the magic and contradictions that is the Indian film industry. The hybrid documentary follows the precarious lives of the "below-the-line" crew of a big-budget Bollywood film, from the perspective of an Indian woman's ambivalent relationship with her culture's myth-making machinery. It is a reverie on the intensely physical, yet invisible, labor behind India's most popular art form. Borrowing Bollywood's grammar to tell the stories of its most marginalized workers, the film raises questions about the price that must be paid to manufacture dreams for a billion people – and who pays.
Amateur film featuring government buildings in Delhi, a shooting party in Malakand and winter in Abbottabad.
Scenes at a garden party given by Earl Lytton, Governor of Bengal, at Government House, Calcutta.
ONE FIRE is a new documentary film exploring the mysteries of Theosophy, focusing on Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and her groundbreaking work, The Secret Doctrine. The film traces how Blavatsky's ideas challenged conventional thought and inspired generations of seekers. It also examines the hidden influence of Theosophy - often unknown to many - on modern thought, the arts, music, education, and politics. At the same time, ONE FIRE serves as a meditation on experiencing eternal truths through striking visuals and original music, inviting audiences to engage not only intellectually but also emotionally with Blavatsky's enduring legacy.
An evocative account of Famila’s extraordinary courage and extreme vulnerabilities, and those of other transgender people in Bangalore.
Life in the bustling Punjabi city of Rawalpindi before partition.
What does it mean to not just break binaries, but to queer them too? When Neel decides to transition from his assigned gender at birth he is rendered homeless having to leave his parental home. But does he find the expected/promised shelter in his affirmed gender? Does he find familiarity in his chosen-lived life? Beyond the blues is a journey of breaking and unmaking binaries, never quite settling down in the comfort of borders and categorizations. It is the story of finding love and resilience in quiet corners, feline kinships, and vibrant colors of the rainbow. It is a promise to hold hands, walk in strength and solidarity, to facilitate newer journeys.
Based on the life of Dr. Harish Gershom and about the journey of his achievement Harishophone. He is the only Indian who can play three octaves in the smallest saw (26.3 inches). He is recognized for his unique achievement including Limca Book Records 2003, State Award 2005, Guinness World Record 2015, British World Records 2021, IMAS Award 2011. Get along the journey of Dr Haris Gershom whose invention of the 'Harishophone' made wonders around the globe for its therapeutic impact. He is known to be the only individual in the world capable of producing three octaves on a saw that have a healing effect.
Shot in Kolkata, this documentary explores the experience of growing up gender variant and not being able to understand, let alone explain the difference. The experience of a world where there is "no one quite like me" is an intensely lonely, fractured and troubled one.
Dignitaries including the Nizam of Hyderabad gather to celebrate the Durbar in honour of George V, who arrives by boat in Bombay.
The Last Hope (Seshasha), the 22.30-minute documentary on the plight of the wild animals especially the rhinos of Kaziranga National Park and the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary during the floods in summer season, was nominated for screening in the Indian Panorama 2010 section in the festival. The film was directed and shot by Bhyuan himself.
A documentary film about a 70-year-old man who has never in his life had his photo taken. So, one day, he asks a young man to take a picture of him and starts telling his tale of photocopy.
This film is a study on the relationship between the tribal and the bamboo as a relationship from birth to death. It investigates further into the flowering of bamboo in Manipur and Mizoram which has got environmental, economic and political dimensions.
From his home in Lisbon, Lebanese-Palestinian writer Saleem Haddad reflects on memory, his family and the strangeness of the sea. He chases his grandmother’s fast-fading recollections of Palestine, where she lived many decades ago, and thinks about writing the homeland from a distance.
Protests rage against the Indian Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which persecutes Muslims. The director listens to the voices of the protesters and observes her own identity as a Muslim woman.
A short film on the traditional art and craft of making the musical instruments Sitar and Tabla.
The work of a district officer in the province of Bengal.
Skanda Puranam (from mythology) tells the story of Kanyakumari who threw into the sea, the flowers and gemstones kept for her marriage with Shiva. It is said to have coloured the shores. When the last Maharaja of Travancore dynasty travelled through Kanyakumari, he was awed by the exquisite garland made of Oleander flowers and called it Manikkamalai - the ruby garland. Ever since, a family in Thovalai village of Kanyakumari has been weaving Maharaja's favourite garland every morning, to be sent to his Palace temple. The dynasty ended long ago and state borders were marked in modern India. Yet, the custom holding the two lands, in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, remains intact.
The filmmaker persuades his Japanese sculptor friend, Toshikazu Kanai, to work with sand as the medium, near the waterfront on a beach. The waves lash. Children jump around. Fish gets caught. A balloon girl passes. A film happens, revealing the process of creation, sustenance and destruction, all happening at the same time.