Sanjay Kak (born 1958) is an Indian author, activist and self-taught film-maker. He is known for his documentaries about environmental activism and resistance politics.

Background and education

Kak was born into a family of

Kashmiri Pandits The Kashmiri Pandits (also known as Kashmiri Brahmins) are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha-Gauda, Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley, a mountai ...

, based in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

for several generations. Kak studied economics and sociology at the

University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE) ...

. He is a self-taught film-maker who is actively involved in the documentary film movement and in the

Campaign against Censorship The Campaign Against Censorship (CAC) is a non-party political pressure group that opposes censorship and promotes freedom of expression in the United Kingdom. The group is based in Fareham, England. It was formerly named the Defence of Literatur ...

and the Cinema of Resistance project.

Career

Kak makes documentary films. His early work includes ''Punjab: Doosra Adhay'' (1986) about the Punjab in the days of the Khalistan struggle, and ''Pradakshina'' (1987), about the river

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

. He followed this with a 1990 film about Cambodia's

Angkor Wat Angkor Wat (; km, អង្គរវត្ត, "City/Capital of Temples") is a temple complex in Cambodia and is the largest religious monument in the world, on a site measuring . Originally constructed as a Hinduism, Hindu temple dedicated ...

temple, ''Angkor Remembered''. In 1993 he released films about the Indian diaspora in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

(''This Land, My Land, Eng-land'') and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

(''A House and a Home''). 1995 saw the release of ''Harvest of Rain''. ''One Weapon'' (1997) followed, "the documentary that marked Sanjay Kak as an explicitly political filmmaker", according to ''

The Caravan ''The Caravan'' is an Indian English-language, long-form narrative journalism magazine covering politics and culture. History In 1940, Vishwa Nath launched ''Caravan'' as the first magazine from the Delhi Press; it went on to establish its ...

'' magazine, and ''In the Forest Hangs a Bridge'' (1999) about the making of a bridge in

Northeast India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

; winner of the Golden Lotus Best Documentary Film, National Film Awards; Asian Gaze Award, Pusan Short Film Festival,

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. His next films were ''Words on Water'' (2002), about the struggle against the Narmada dams in central India, which won Best Long Film prize at the International Festival of Environmental Film & Video (Fica) in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and ''Jashn-e-Azadi - How We Celebrate Freedom'' (2007) about the Kashmiri freedom struggle. ''Jashn-e-Azadi'' is a film that has "widely influenced the way Kashmir was perceived in India". The film has had a chequered screening history. In 2008, he participated in Manifesta7, the European Biennale of Art, in

Bolzano Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...

, Italy, with the installation ''A Shrine to the Future: The Memory of a Hill'', about the mining of bauxite in the

Niyamgiri The Niyamgiri is a hill range situated in the districts of Kalahandi and Rayagada in the south-west of Odisha, India. These hills are home to Dongria Kondh indigenous people. The hills have one of India's most pristine forests in the interior ...

hills of Odisha. He writes occasional political commentary, and is the editor of ''Until My Freedom Has Come – The New Intifada in Kashmir'' (2011). His latest feature-length documentary is on the revolutionary

Maoist movement Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Chi ...

in India, called ''

Red Ant Dream ''Red Ant Dream'' (Hindi: माटी के लाल) is a 2013 documentary film directed by Sanjay Kak. This documentary is based on the rebel Maoism in India, Maoist movement in India. The documentary has been screened in various cities in Ind ...

''. The film was under production for more than three years and released in 2013.

Filmography

* ''Punjab: Doosra Adhay'' (1986) * ''Pradakshina'' (1987) * ''Angkor Remembered'' (1990) * ''This Land, My Land, Eng-land'' (1993) * ''A House and a Home'' (1993) * ''Harvest of Rain'' (1995) * ''One Weapon'' (1997) * ''In the Forest Hangs a Bridge'' (1999) * ''Words on Water'' (2002) * ''Jashn-e-Azaadi'' (2007) * ''

'' (2013)

References

External links

Official Website of ''Red Ant Dream''/''माटी के लाल''

''Jashn-e-Azadi'' Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kak, Sanjay Living people Kashmiri people Indian documentary filmmakers 1958 births 20th-century Indian film directors 21st-century Indian film directors Film directors from Jammu and Kashmir Writers about the Kashmir conflict Delhi University alumni Kashmiri Pandits

Background and education

Career

Filmography

Further reading

References

External links