ITV

Tag: documentary

  • Indian documentary breaks record for longest run in Indian cinemas

    Indian documentary breaks record for longest run in Indian cinemas

    MUMBAI: Sundance Grand Jury Prize-nominated Indian film Fire in the Blood has been held over for a fourth week at PVR Phoenix in Mumbai, thus becoming the first-ever non-fiction film to achieve a four-week commercial theatrical run in India.

     

    “This is a dream come true and a real testament to the fact that audiences in India are hungering for new and different types of films,” said producer-director Dylan Mohan Gray. “The word of mouth has been just incredible, and definitely the key factor in sustaining interest in Fire in the Blood,” he added. “I get e-mails, especially from students, every single day telling me how blown away they were by the movie and how they’ve prodded their friends to rush to go see it while it’s still running.”

     

    Fire in the Blood tells the story of a unique and eclectic group of people who came together from India and other parts of the world to stop the ‘Crime of the Century’, whereby low-cost AIDS medicine was being deliberately withheld by Western pharmaceutical companies and governments from reaching Africa and other parts of the developing world, resulting in a minimum of ten million needless deaths. The film has won three major international awards, including the Prize for Political Film in Hamburg in early October, and has been consistently listed as an outside Oscar contender in the documentary feature category by The Hollywood Reporter and other US industry sources.

     

    PVR Joint Managing Director Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, said “We feel a huge amount of satisfaction in seeing our film Fire in the Blood break the record for most consecutive weeks in theatrical release by a documentary in India. PVR Director’s Rare has been the standard-bearer for bringing world-class non-fiction and art house films to Indian audiences, and it is a source of immense pride for us to see audiences responding so strongly and keeping a film like this in the cinemas, fuelled by strong word of mouth and outstanding critical acclaim.”

    Fire in the Blood is narrated by Oscar-winning actor William Hurt.

  • Prince William opens up to the world in a docu

    Prince William opens up to the world in a docu

    MUMBAI: The documentary chronicles Prince William’s passion for conservation in Africa, and how as a new father, he finds himself more committed than ever to saving Africa’s endangered species. The documentary will telecast on CNN International on Saturday, 21 September at 1:30 pm and Sunday 22 September at 3:30 pm.

    In the film, Prince William recalls how his love for Africa was born, remembering his late mother Princess Diana when she returned from her trips: “She would come back with all these stories and full of excitement and just passion for what she had been doing and I sort of used to sit there, quite a sort of surprised little boy at the time, taking it all in.”

    In the hour long special, Prince William shares with CNN’s Max Foster the evolution of his passion for conservation. From childhood tales told to him by his parents, to memories of visiting Africa for the first time, to his proposal to the Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William recounts the pivotal role the continent and its endangered species have played in his life. As a new father, what he once “believed,” he says he now “feels” on a much deeper level, and hopes that Prince George can experience the same Africa that he and his brother did as boys.

    Prince William’s Passion: New Father, New Hope will also feature exclusive footage of the Royal couple’s first public appearance together since the birth of their son at the Tusk Conservation Awards. The Duke of Cambridge, as the Royal Patron of Tusk Trust – a dynamic organisation that funds development programs in Africa – will present the Prince William Award for Conservation in Africa.

  • Neil LaBute to create short films for DirecTV

    MUMBAI: DirecTV has entered into a partnership with the award-winning screenwriter Neil LaBute (The Shape of Things, In the Company of Men) to produce a set of ten short films that will air exclusively on the Audience Network.

     

    The pact sees LaBute writing, directing and producing ten stand-alone stories. Production is scheduled for this month and the films will begin airing later in the fall. This is DirecTV‘s second collaboration with LaBute, who previously wrote the upcoming limited series Full Circle.

    “I‘m very excited to move forward on this new project, and there is not a better home than DirecTV for an ambitious series like this,” said LaBute. “Although I am incredibly proud of my scripts for Full Circle, I was disappointed I was not available to be a part of the production. That fact drove home for me how important it is, from an artistic standpoint, to roll up my sleeves and immerse myself in all aspects of the creative process on television.”

     

    “We are thrilled to share these new films with our customers and are proud that Neil has chosen DirecTV as the first place to write, produce and direct his own material,” said DirecTV senior VP of original content and production Chris Long. “The films will be produced with a true auteur model; we‘re striving for the least possible distance between the artist‘s vision and the final product.”

  • Documentary on Bhopal gas disaster to screen on 24 April

    Documentary on Bhopal gas disaster to screen on 24 April

    MUMBAI: Van Maximilian Carlson’s documentary about the survivors of the 1984 Union Carbide gas leak in Bhopal titled Bhopali will be screened at the Alliance Francaise, Mumbai on 24 April at 6:30 pm.

    Set against the backdrop of vehement protests for the 25th anniversary of the disaster, Bhopali documents the experience of second generation children affected by the worst industrial disaster in history, and subsequent contamination of groundwater by Union Carbide Corporation.

    The documentary follows several children as they and their families cope with the ongoing medical and social disaster as well as their memories of that traumatizing night that shocked the world and changed Bhopal forever.

    Incidentally, the documentary won the Grand Jury Best Documentary Award and Audience Award at Slamdance Film Festival, 2011.

    The screening is being organised by The Root Reel, an initiative which showcases relevant, thought provoking films from across the world.

  • Documentary on Rat killers releasing 20 April

    Documentary on Rat killers releasing 20 April

    MUMBAI: Filmmaker Miriam Chandy Menacherry‘s documentary on rat killers titled The Rat Race is set to release in theatres on 20 April.

    Said Menacherry, “The theatre release in India is an emotional moment for it is here in my own country that I want the film to be seen.”

    The film is a true-life account of the city‘s rat killers. Every night as the rest of the city sleeps, young boys armed with torches and sticks set out to bring back 30 dead rats that are counted every morning. The rats are then disposed in the Deonar dumping ground where they are either incinerated or just dumped.

    Dark, disturbing yet humourous, the entire film was shot over two years amidst the city‘s changing seasons and circumstances of rat killers. However, the filmmaker could not capture the happenings at the dumping ground as the unit was refused permission to shoot there.

    The film has been made in such a way that it allows ex-supervisor Pest Control Department of Mumbai, BMC Behram Harda run through the film with a sort of narration.

    Interestingly, Harda, who dreamt of becoming a Bollywood dancer when he was just 16, will see his dream come true with the release of the film.

    The film is being released by PVR and Big Cinemas.

  • Javed Jafferi take to documentary making

    Javed Jafferi take to documentary making

    MUMBAI: With the formation of his new company Indian Documentary Foundation, noted comedian Javed Jaaferi has taken a plunge into documentary making.

    “Indian Documentary Foundation is a non-profit organisation that will help raise funds for financing and marketing documentary films, create awareness and raise the bar for Indian documentaries,” Javed said.

    Earlier, he was the co-producer of Inshallah, Football, a documentary on the game of soccer. Now, Jaaferi hopes to create a market for such movies that act as an eye-opener and share hard-hitting information.

    The 48-year-old Jaaferi blames the ‘escapist’ attitude of people for the dwindling state of documentary filmmaking.

    “Documentaries act as an eye-opener and say a lot about society, whether it`s Malegaon Ka Superhero or Final Solution. These films provide some amazing and hard-hitting information in a condensed form. There are so many different areas that they touch upon, which people are not actually aware of,” he observed.

    Jafferi, son of veteran comedian Jagdeep, has been the mainstay of films like Double Dhamaal, Hello Darling, Lafangey Parindey, 3 Idiots, Daddy Cool: Join the Fun and Kambakkht Ishq, among others.

  • Javed Jafferi takes to documentary making

    Javed Jafferi takes to documentary making

    MUMBAI: With the formation of his new company Indian Documentary Foundation, noted comedian Javed Jaaferi has taken a plunge into documentary making.
     

    “Indian Documentary Foundation is a non-profit organisation that will help raise funds for financing and marketing documentary films, create awareness and raise the bar for Indian documentaries,” Javed said.
     

    Earlier, he was the co-producer of Inshallah, Football, a documentary on the game of soccer. Now, Jaaferi hopes to create a market for such movies that act as an eye-opener and share hard-hitting information.

    “Documentaries act as an eye-opener and say a lot about society, whether it`s Malegaon Ka Superhero or Final Solution. These films provide some amazing and hard-hitting information in a condensed form. There are so many different areas that they touch upon, which people are not actually aware of,” he observed.
     

    The 48-year-old Jaaferi blames the ‘escapist’ attitude of people for the dwindling state of documentary filmmaking.
     

    Jafferi, son of veteran comedian Jagdeep, has been the mainstay of films like Double Dhamaal, Hello Darling, Lafangey Parindey, 3 Idiots, Daddy Cool: Join the Fun and Kambakkht Ishq, among others.

  • Sundance Doc Film Program grants $25,000 to Indo-Norway film Gulabi Gang

    Sundance Doc Film Program grants $25,000 to Indo-Norway film Gulabi Gang

    MUMBAI: The Sundance Documentary Film Program has given a grant of $25,000 to the Indo-Norway joint production Gulabi Gang that is to be directed by Nishtha Jain. The film is one among the 29 feature-length documentary films that have been earmarked to receive the grant.


    The documentary traces Sampat Pal and the fiery women of her Gulabi Gang who take up the fight against gender violence, caste oppression and widespread corruption in Bundelkhand.


    The Documentary Film Program, that celebrates its tenth anniversary next year, has awarded grants to more than 300 documentary filmmakers in 61 countries.


    The Sundance Documentary Film Program assists non-fiction filmmakers from around the world with a series of workshops in editing, storytelling and scoring for documentary films as well as providing grants to non-fiction film projects through the Sundance Documentary Fund.


    The program encourages the exploration of innovative non-fiction storytelling and promotes the exhibition of documentary films to a broader audience. It also supports independent artists — both domestically and internationally — through the Sundance Documentary Fund.

  • Amol Palekar makes first documentary on Kishori Amonkar

    Amol Palekar makes first documentary on Kishori Amonkar

    MUMBAI: The first-ever documentary on music stalwart Kishori Amonkar has been made by Amol Palekar and his wife Sandhya Gokhale.
     

    The 72-minute long film Bhinna Shadja will be screened in Pune at the National Film Archive of India on 30 August.
     

    Talking of how the idea was conceived, Palekar recalls, “Once, she was chatting with me after a concert and the topic of documentaries on different maestros came up. I asked her why there wasn’t even one on her and she said, ‘You are the kind of person who should make it.’ I was taken aback by her response but did not say anything at that moment.”

    After a lot of thought, they decided to only focus on her art, her contribution to music and her thought process without going into the nitty gitties. “We were not sure whether she would agree to this or not. However, when we met her, she gave us complete freedom of interpretation. That was a great relief for us considering that in the past, many people including Vijaya Mehta and Nana Patekar did approach her for making a documentary but that didn’t work out,” averred Palekar.

     

    The duo took more than six weeks to respond, which upset Amonkar. But they used that period for homework, looking at more than 40 films and documentaries on various legends from art and culture. “This gave us an idea as to what we shouldn’t be doing,” recollects Gokhale.

     

    Shot in Goa, Mumbai and Pune, the film features music stalwarts such as Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, all recalling their association with Amonkar and her music.

  • Aidem Ventures to handle ad sales for Al Jazeera in India

    Aidem Ventures to handle ad sales for Al Jazeera in India

    MUMBAI: Aidem Ventures is appointed as Al Jazeera’s India media representative for its English and other flagship channels. These channels include Al Jazeera Arabic, Al Jazeera Documentary and Al Jazeera Mobasher.

    Al Jazeera English was granted a licence by the Government of India in December 2010 to broadcast in India for the first time.

    Announcing the appointment Group Media General Manager at q.media, the media representative of Al Jazeera Channels Jaber Al-Ansari, said,”We are excited to establish our business presence in India with the appointment of Aidem Ventures as our representative in India. This partnership reflects q.media’s ambition to pursue Al Jazeera’s successful global expansion and to meet Indian based companies’ needs for a prestigious media platform like Al Jazeera English Channel to market their brands to a global audience”.

    Al Jazeera English currently has a bureau and a distribution office in New Delhi. Al Jazeera English is the first English language world news channel to be headquartered in the Middle East.

    Aidem Ventures director Vikas Khanchandani said,”We are delighted to be entrusted with the mandate to develop the advertising potential of an iconic and credible media brand like AJE in India. As India continues to integrate strongly with the world economy, more and more Indian companies and brands will be looking to expand their footprint globally and will be seeking robust global media platforms to build their brands. Aidem, with its extensive experience and track record in the news genre, is best equipped to partner with Al Jazeera in their foray into the Indian market.”

    Launched in November 2006, Al Jazeera English seeks to present every side and every angle to its stories and act as a bridge between cultures. With unique access, making it the channel of reference for Middle East events, and 65 bureaus strategically placed around the world, Al Jazeera English laims to provide independent and impartial news for a global audience, giving voice to different perspectives from under-reported regions around the world.

    Al Jazeera English is available in more than 100 countries to more than 220 million households worldwide. The channel was awarded”Best 24 Hour News Programme” at the 48th and 50th Annual Monte Carlo Television Festival and has received awards from the Royal Television Society, Amnesty International and YouTube.

    The channel has also received a total of six International Emmy nominations in the News, Documentary and Current Affairs categories.