Creative Documentary Filmmaking

18/11/2022

At CDC, we work with the belief that all narratives, themes and subjects have been addressed by someone, somewhere, sometime. True originality lies in developing a perspective through observation, research and understanding; making one’s own discoveries in the process.

17/11/2022

CDC Recommends:

“The mesmerizing, utterly unclassifiable science films of Jean Painlevé (1902-89) have to be seen to be believed: delightful, surrealist-influenced dream works that are also serious science. The French filmmaker-scientist-inventor had a decades-spanning career in which he created hundreds of short films on subjects ranging from astronomy to pigeons to, most famously, such marine-life marvels as the sea horse and the sea urchin.”(Text from the criterion Collection)

The Seahorse (1934)

Synopsis:

This short film explores the unusual reproductive cycle of seahorses, where the female gives the male eggs for both fertilisation and birth. The film is replete with scientific detail: Jean Painlevé’s narration guides our attention, and even reveals the drumming heartbeat of a newborn seahorse.

Acera or the Witch’s dance (1972)

Synopsis:

In mud flats along the coast of Brittany, acera, small ball-shaped mollusks that are about two inches in diameter, rest in the mud. Then, in the water, their skirt-like hood dances as they spin and spin.

28/10/2022

27/10/2022

On 29th October there will be screenings of
Batch ‘22 by Anmol Bains ; Jaagte Khwaab (Dreams Awaken) by Aprajita Gupta;
Somewhere Near And Far by Gurleen Grewal;
Nigazh Unarvu (Of Presence) by Vilasini Kailasam.

Swipe through for the synopses of these films.

Date: 29 October
Time: 3:45pm onwards
Venue: The Hall of Life Divine, SACAC, Adchini, New Delhi

27/10/2022

Starting off with ‘s diploma film Batch ‘22 which will be screened at the Hall of Life Divine at SACAC, Adchini, New Delhi on the 29th of October at 4pm.

27/10/2022

Our students have gone around the city and put up posters for their upcoming diploma film screenings on the 29th and 30th of October 2022!
Swipe to see the full schedule of the screenings. Watch this space for more!

14/10/2022

Buwati Nodir Dore directed by CDC alumnus is also being screened at IDFFB’22 in Bhubaneswar from 14-16 Oct, 2022.

Those in Bhubaneswar here’s your chance to watch a film with a largely CDC alumni crew. Cinematography by Chinmoy Sonowal , editing by , sound by . The three alumni have also collaborated on scripting this film along with Prabhakar Duwarah ..
Buwati Nodir Dore

(Like the flowing river)

Synopsis: The traditional folk songs of the Sonowal Kachari tribe are being remixed the modern way in recording studios in the city leaving the members of the kachari tribe in the village, worried about the future of their cultural identity. The community has been recently exposed to the internet and the village is undergoing rapid transformation.

Will the next generation be willing to retain the core essence of the history of their community or will they dismiss it in turn for something they can relate to?
..

Crew

Produced by
Centre for Media and Alternative Communication and Bhooma

Cinematography
Chinmoy Sonowal
Biswajit Das

Sound
Neelansh Mittra

Research and Script
Biswajit Das
Chinmoy Sonowal
Prabhakar Duwarah
Neelansh Mittra

Editor
Biswajit Das

Director
Neelansh Mittra

(Poster by )

09/10/2022

Shilpi Gulati | Visiting Faculty at CDC

Shilpi Gulati is a filmmaker, theatre artist and educator. She locates her practice at the intersections of documentary and theatre where she engages with feminist histories, intergenerational memories and community based media practices. A two time recipient of the President’s National Film Award for her documentaries Qissa-E- Parsi (2014) and Taala Te Kunjee (2018).

The coming week shall see filmmaker Shilpi Gulati teaching the students about the evolving ecosystem of documentary funding in India and internationally. The workshop will help the students critically understand the economics of filmmaking and its impact on the politics of documentary form and storytelling.

06/10/2022

Last week our students completed their diploma films and presented it to the jury members Amar Kanwar, Priyanka Chhabra and Sameera Jain.

The jury‘s rich feedback has provided the students with plenty of food for thought on filmmaking practice.

We are delighted and grateful to the jury for giving us their time and for generously sharing their knowledge.

14/09/2022

"If you want to make a documentary you should automatically go to the fiction, and if you want to nourish your fiction you have to come back to reality." - Jean-Luc Godard

08/09/2022

‘The Little Book of the Little Man’ a film by CDC alumnus Shuchi Prasad is about “a poem heard in a small village school in the Himalayas sets Manav onto the task to find ‘the image of childhood'. As distinctions of what
is real and what is not begin to blur, the incomplete circles of geometry class become analogous to his experience of time, memory as
well as his dreams. The film was recently screened at the 14th IDSFFK held between 26-31st August.

07/09/2022

We are delighted to share that our alumnus Debankon Singh Solanki’s film ‘New Classroom’ won the Best Short Documentary 2022 at the 14th IDSFFK, Trivandrum Kerala.

…
New Classroom Dir.: Debankon Singh Solanky

Synopsis: In the capital city of India, a young boy resorts to virtual schooling at home, while the pandemic ravaged the country.