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Panel
Seminar

Amplifying “Small” Stories: New Wave of Creative Documentaries from India

PST

  • Arya Rothe Headshot
    Arya Rothe, Moderator
  • Headshot of Koval Bhatia wearing a large scarf and purple jacket
    Koval Bhatia, Speaker
  • Shaunak Sen Headshot
    Shaunak Sen, Speaker

In recent years, “creative documentaries,” especially those from India, have soared to new heights globally, carving out a unique space in world cinema. What exactly are "creative documentaries," and how do they intersect with Indian and Western audiences? India has experienced a rise in successful documentaries, yet many of these projects are primarily made possible through support from Western funding bodies and institutions. This dynamic prompts reflection on the tenets by which decisions to fund these films are made.

Join Logan Elevate 2023 grantee Arya Rothe for a conversation about the evolving creative documentary landscape in India with filmmakers Koval Bhatia, producer of 2023 Sundance winner Against The Tide, and Shaunak Sen, director of 2022 Sundance winner and 2023 IDA Documentary Award winner and Oscarⓡ-Nominated feature All That Breathes; both filmmakers are instrumental in paving the way for “global” creative documentary cinema today.

If you need any other accommodations or help accessing this event, please get in touch with us at funds@documentary.org by June 18, 2024. We'll do our best to meet all access needs.

Event Participants

    Arya Rothe Headshot

    Arya Rothe

    Arya Rothe is an Indian filmmaker and a co-founder of NoCut Film Collective, established in 2016 by filmmakers Cristina Hanes (Romania), Isabella Rinaldi (Italy), and Arya Rothe (India) after their studies within the DocNomads program. Their directorial debut, A Rifle and a Bag, received a Special Mention in the Bright Future Competition at the 2020 International Film Festival Rotterdam. The film has been showcased at over 50 festivals and was also featured on MUBI. Arya Rothe has garnered support for her work from organizations such as the Doha Film Fund, IDFA Bertha Fund, Chicken and Egg Pictures, DMZ Docs, AlterCine Foundation and Creative Europe. Currently, she is co-producing two documentaries and has worked in various roles, including director, writer, and editor, on documentary projects for platforms like Arté, RTBF, Netflix, and Amazon Prime.

    Headshot of Koval Bhatia wearing a large scarf and purple jacket

    Koval Bhatia

    Koval Bhatia is a writer, director and producer based in India. Her feature documentary as producer titled Against The Tide won the Special Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival 2023, the Grand Jury Prize at Seattle IFFand the Best Feature at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. She was also nominated for the Gotham and IDA Awards. Her short documentary as writer and director, titled She Run The World, was commissioned by Hot Docs Canada and premiered at DCEFF.

    She has directed and produced media for many non profits and broadcasters, primarily projects created by and about women. Koval has received support from IDFA, Sundance Institute, San Francisco Film Fund, IDFA, Catapult Fund, Hot Docs, Doc Society and Eurodoc for her work as a producer. She was awarded the Getting Real Fellowship by IDA in 2022, and served as Chair Of Jury for the IDA Awards in 2023. She is the co-founder of Open Door Docs, a platform for Indian women practicing non-fiction. She has worked as a mentor and reviewer for In-Docs, Doc Society, Catapult, BFI and IDA. 

    Shaunak Sen Headshot

    Shaunak Sen

    Shaunak Sen is an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker and writer based in Delhi. His film All That Breathes received nominations at the 2023 Academy and BAFTA awards. The film was a winner at the 38th IDA Awards for Best Feature, Best Editing, and Pare Lorentz Award. The film also won awards at Cannes, Sundance, BFI London, IDA and Cinema Eye, and twenty-four other film festivals. Cities of Sleep (2016), his first feature-length documentary, was shown at various major international film festivals and won six international awards. Shaunak has received grants from Sundance, Tribeca, and IDFA-Amsterdam, amongst others. He has received the Pro Helvetia residency in Switzerland, the Sarai-CSDS grant, and the Charles Wallace grant as a visiting scholar (at Cambridge University). Shaunak holds a Ph.D., has been published in journals including BioScope and Widescreen, and is currently a visiting scholar at the Max Planck Institute, Berlin. Shaunak has been on juries for festivals including the Sundance Film Festival, Zurich Film Festival, and the IDSFFK, Kerala.