In 2022, India celebrated its 75th anniversary of independence. But is all really well in the ‘world’s largest democracy’? Both documentaries and fictional narratives reflect on the socio-political development of the past 30 years, and ask: is the institutional success of right-wing Hindu-nationalist groups and the persecution of dissenting voices an indication of the shape of things to come – and not only in India?
This panel discussion puts the programme’s subjects and films into a larger socio-political context and provides much-needed historical context. It also addresses the difficulties and dangers filmmakers face when they engage with controversial subjects, and in this way assesses the current cultural climate in India. A panel discussion featuring filmmakers Lalit Vachani and Jaideep Varma will be moderated by programmer Stefan Borsos. Immediately after, documentary filmmaker Nishtha Jain (Gulabi Gang, 2012) gives the public the opportunity to gain deeper insight into various resistance movements, and also offers glimpses of her own work, both recently completed and still in progress.
