Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (The World is Family)
Documentary
Marathi, English, Hindi
mins
96
Texas Premiere
In-Person, Virtual
2023
India
Documentary
‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, an ancient Sanskrit phrase meaning "the world is family" is a universalist idea that competes with dominant, exclusivist Hindu notions of caste. Anand grew up in a milieu that questioned the latter. The family's elders had fought for India's Independence but rarely spoke about it. 'Liberty, Equality, Fraternity', words enshrined in India's Constitution, became subconsciously internalized. As his parents aged, Anand began to film with whatever equipment was at hand. Soon birthdays and family gatherings gave way to oral history. Revisiting home movie footage a decade after his parents had passed was a revelation. Today as self-confessed Hindu supremacists whose ideology once inspired the murder of Mahatma Gandhi rewrite India's history, memories of the past have become more precious than mere personal nostalgia.
Best Editing, International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA)
In-Person Q&A with Director Anand Patwardhan
Production, Direction, Editing
Anand Patwardhan
Anand Patwardhan has been making documentary films for over five decades pursuing issues at the crux of social and political life in India. Many of his films were at one time or another banned by state television channels and became the subject of censorship rulings that Anand successfully challenged in court. Active in movements for communal harmony and against unsustainable development, militarism and nuclear nationalism, Anand describes himself as “a non-serious human being forced by circumstances to make serious films”.
Director:
Anand Patwardhan
Producer:
Anand Patwardhan
Writer:
Cast:
Editor:
Anand Patwardhan
Crew:
Anand Patwardhan, Simantini Dhuru