Rakesh Sharma (filmmaker)
Encyclopedia
Rakesh Sharma is a prominent India
n documentary
film-maker. 46-year-old Sharma is based in Goa
. His famous work is the feature-length documentary Final Solution (Gujarat Riots)
on the communal Gujarat riots of 2002. This film was rejected as an entry at the Mumbai International Film Festival
in 2004 due to objections by the Censor Board of India, but went on to win two awards at the 54th Berlin International Film Festival
(2004). The film was the first Indian film to be awarded the Wolfgang Staudte Award, and it also won the Special Jury Award at the festival.
The film was banned (denied certification) by the Indian Censor Board in July 2004, but following a spate of protests by civil society, the same censors cleared the film without a single cut in Oct 2004. Later, the same film went onto win the President's Indian National Film Award. Final Solution also won the prestigious Apsara award as well as over 20 international awards. The film has been shown on BBC's Storyville, YLE, NHK, DR2 and assorted European stations. It is yet to be screened in India on any private or government television channel.
Indian filmmaker Rakesh Sharma made waves with Final Solution (Gujarat Riots)
, a hard-hitting analysis of the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom orchestrated by right-wing Hindu nationalists in Gujarat. Sharma viewed the events as a turning point in Indian history: “I wanted it (the film) to be more than a record of grief and tragedy,” says Sharma, “and to look at the political conditions behind it.” Himself a Hindu, Sharma used primary sources — testimony from both victims and perpetrators — to reveal state complicity in the violence. When the film was banned, he mounted an ingenious viral distribution campaign, urging supporters to “pirate and circulate.” It went on to win a Special Jury Award in Berlin. “I find it difficult to remain “just” a filmmaker. I want to hold up the film as a mirror and ask, ‘Is this really what you want to support?’” This impulse to explore critical public issues runs through much of his work.
Rakesh Sharma's earlier film is the multiple award winning film Aftershocks: The Rough Guide to Democracy, a subaltern re-examination of the Narmada debate (Development at whose cost? For whose benefit?). Set in Kutch's lignite mining belt, the film probes democracy 'from below'.
His new set of films probing politics of hate are awaited in 2011; the series is apparently titled Interrogating Hate and has 4-5 parts dealing with Kandhamal, Mangalore, Mumbai terror attack, Malegaon and Gujarat.
Interview with Rakesh Sharma
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
film-maker. 46-year-old Sharma is based in Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
. His famous work is the feature-length documentary Final Solution (Gujarat Riots)
Final Solution (Gujarat Riots)
The Final Solution is a 2003 documentary directed by Rakesh Sharma about the 2002 communal Gujarat Riots that arose as a response to the Godhra Train Burning incident on February 27, 2002, where 58 Hindus were burnt alive on a train carriage. An official estimate states that 254 Hindus and 790...
on the communal Gujarat riots of 2002. This film was rejected as an entry at the Mumbai International Film Festival
Mumbai International Film Festival
Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films , is a festival organised in the city of Mumbai by the 'Film Division', Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India. It has been organised since 1990, and focuses on documentary, short and animation...
in 2004 due to objections by the Censor Board of India, but went on to win two awards at the 54th Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
(2004). The film was the first Indian film to be awarded the Wolfgang Staudte Award, and it also won the Special Jury Award at the festival.
The film was banned (denied certification) by the Indian Censor Board in July 2004, but following a spate of protests by civil society, the same censors cleared the film without a single cut in Oct 2004. Later, the same film went onto win the President's Indian National Film Award. Final Solution also won the prestigious Apsara award as well as over 20 international awards. The film has been shown on BBC's Storyville, YLE, NHK, DR2 and assorted European stations. It is yet to be screened in India on any private or government television channel.
Indian filmmaker Rakesh Sharma made waves with Final Solution (Gujarat Riots)
Final Solution (Gujarat Riots)
The Final Solution is a 2003 documentary directed by Rakesh Sharma about the 2002 communal Gujarat Riots that arose as a response to the Godhra Train Burning incident on February 27, 2002, where 58 Hindus were burnt alive on a train carriage. An official estimate states that 254 Hindus and 790...
, a hard-hitting analysis of the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom orchestrated by right-wing Hindu nationalists in Gujarat. Sharma viewed the events as a turning point in Indian history: “I wanted it (the film) to be more than a record of grief and tragedy,” says Sharma, “and to look at the political conditions behind it.” Himself a Hindu, Sharma used primary sources — testimony from both victims and perpetrators — to reveal state complicity in the violence. When the film was banned, he mounted an ingenious viral distribution campaign, urging supporters to “pirate and circulate.” It went on to win a Special Jury Award in Berlin. “I find it difficult to remain “just” a filmmaker. I want to hold up the film as a mirror and ask, ‘Is this really what you want to support?’” This impulse to explore critical public issues runs through much of his work.
Rakesh Sharma's earlier film is the multiple award winning film Aftershocks: The Rough Guide to Democracy, a subaltern re-examination of the Narmada debate (Development at whose cost? For whose benefit?). Set in Kutch's lignite mining belt, the film probes democracy 'from below'.
His new set of films probing politics of hate are awaited in 2011; the series is apparently titled Interrogating Hate and has 4-5 parts dealing with Kandhamal, Mangalore, Mumbai terror attack, Malegaon and Gujarat.
Interview with Rakesh Sharma
- Berlinale Catalogue (English and German)