The films are part of the Harvard Film Archive Series. Click to see the detailed film schedule
During the Cold War it was said that an iron curtain prevented information from getting in or out of the Communist Bloc. Today a velvet curtain of mindless infotainment envelops the globe enforcing a strict censorship of the vital stories of our times. – Anand Patwardhan
The films of Anand Patwardhan document the rise of religious fundamentalism and inequality in India over the last five decades. A fierce documentarian and activist, he has faced legal battles, censorship and threats of violence throughout his career. These hurdles have not deterred him from making films that tell the stories of India’s underrepresented minorities to expose the arbitrary, everyday violence directed against them. Patwardhan’s films possess a restless energy that is meant to provoke, inviting the viewer to listen to those who are in pain, and become unsettled with the current state of the world. By opening up the space to collectively reckon with the anger and frustration generated by systemic injustice, Patwardhan’s cinema of activism brings urgency to the work of building a better, more humane future.
