Indian Documentary Film and Filmmakers

Independence in Practice

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by Shweta Kishore

Type

Studies

Subject

Countries > India

Keywords

India, documentary, director

Publishing date

2018

Publisher

Edinburgh University Press

Language

English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Hardcover • 208 pages
6 x 9 ¼ inches (15.5 x 23.5 cm)

ISBN

978-1-4744-3306-8

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Book Presentation:
Examines independent documentary film production in India within a political context
• Simultaneous engagement with the wider discipline of documentary studies and the practice of Indian independent documentary
• Examination of documentary ethics and issues related to consent, drawing upon the voices of documentary participants
• Critical discussion of emerging issues and questions of crowdfunding, piracy, digital storytelling and online exhibition
• The first in-depth critical study of NGO funded independent documentary, its aesthetic and political struggles in relation to films and film cultures

Independent documentary is enjoying a resurgence in post-reform India. But in contemporary cinema and media cultures, where ‘independent’ operates as an industry genre or critical category, how do we understand the significance of this mode of cultural production?

Based on detailed onsite observation of documentary production, circulation practices and the analysis of film texts, this book identifies independence as a 'tactical practice’, contesting the normative definitions and functions assigned to culture, cultural production and producers in a neoliberal economic system. Focusing on selected filmmakers, the book establishes how they have reorganised the dominance of industrial media, technology and social relations to develop practices that build upon principles of de-economisation, artisanship and interdependence.

About the Author:
Shweta Kishore lectures in Screen and Media at RMIT University, Australia. She is the author of Indian Documentary Film and Filmmakers: Independence in Practice and has published widely on Indian documentary, documentary ethics, feminist film, and activist film festivals. Shweta is a documentary practitioner and has curated documentary and artist cinema programmes for the Kochi Muziris Biennale (India), The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre (Vietnam), and the Melbourne International Film Festival (Australia).

Press Reviews:
A fine contribution to our understanding of social-issue and activist documentary cinema and its lively incarnation in India since 1987. Rigorous and resourceful, Kishore’s labour of love ranges from the work of five exemplary artists to their theoretical and political context. With the growing circulation of independent Indian nonfiction voices and images, practising independence becomes increasingly urgent.– Professor Thomas Waugh, Concordia University

See the publisher website: Edinburgh University Press