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The Anand Patwardhan Collection

View the April 29, 2021 Docuseek webinar with Anand Patwardhan

Discover the complete filmography of Anand Patwardhan, for almost 50 years India'’s most important — and to some, controversial — documentary filmmaker.

From his first film Waves of Revolution made in 1974 through his most recent film Reason completed in 2018, Patwardhan has recorded the modern history of India and illuminated inconvenient truths of its society, from the injustices of poverty and the caste system, to the rise of militarism, Hindu fundamentalism, nationalism and an extremist, repressive government.

Virtually all of Patwardhan’s films have faced state censorship and he has had to wage unrelenting legal battles to make them available for screening in India, at all.

And though feted by awards and retrospectives internationally, at the Tate Modern in London or the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam, for example, his work is too little known here in the United States.

This 19-film collection includes major award-winners: Reason (Best Feature-Length Documentary, IDFA); Jai Bhim Comrade; War and Peace; A Narmada Diary; Father, Son and Holy War; In the Name of GodBombay Our City; and Prisoners of Conscience among others. Mubi calls Reason "a sprawling compendium in chapters of the cultures of religious mystification and fervent Hindu nationalism that plague today's India, and a brave attempt, per its title, to advocate for rational thought and truth-telling. A powerful work that bears the impact of the dark, messy, and dangerous fire being stoked in [Patwardhan's] country that has analogies in many others. Reason portrays a world that needs to be changed, and by portraying it, becomes a tool for that change."

Anand Patwardhan's film work provides an unparalleled portrait of contemporary India.

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The Anand Patwardhan Collection includes the following titles:

A Narmada Diary - imageA Narmada Diary

Introduces the Save Narmada Movement which has spearheaded the agitation against the Sardar Sarover Dam in western India.

Anand Patwardhan | 1995 | 57 minutes
A Time to Rise - imageA Time to Rise

An eloquent testimony to the progress of the workers’ movement among Chinese and East Indian immigrant workers in British Columbia.

Anand Patwardhan | 1981 | 40 minutes
Bombay Our City - imageBombay Our City

Tells the story of the daily battle for survival of the 4 million slum dwellers of Bombay who make up half the city’s population.

Anand Patwardhan | 1985 | 75 minutes
Children of Mandala - imageChildren of Mandala

A message from the economically displaced children of a slum colony in Mumbai.

Anand Patwardhan | 2009 | 5 minutes
Father, Son and Holy War: Hero Pharmacy - imageFather, Son and Holy War: Hero Pharmacy

A film about men, religion and violence.

Anand Patwardhan | 1995 | 121 minutes
Father, Son and Holy War: Trial by Fire - imageFather, Son and Holy War: Trial by Fire

A film about men, religion and violence.

Anand Patwardhan | 1995 | 120 minutes
Fishing: In the Sea of Greed - imageFishing: 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.

Anand Patwardhan | 1998 | 42 minutes
Images You Didn't See - imageImages You Didn't See

A music video that interprets images gleaned from the net – images that either never appear in the mainstream media, or images whose import are masked behind a velvet curtain of global infotainment.

Anand Patwardhan | 2006 | 5 minutes
In Memory of Friends - imageIn Memory of Friends

Documents the violence and terror in Punjab, India – a land torn apart by religious fundamentalists and a repressive government.

Anand Patwardhan | 1990 | 60 minutes
In the Name of God - imageIn the Name of God

Focuses on the campaign waged by the militant Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to destroy a 16th century mosque in Ayodhya said to have been built by Babar, the first Mughal Emperor of India.

Anand Patwardhan | 1992 | 75 minutes

Visit the title page to preview any of the titles above.