Vikalp (Films for Freedom) is a network of documentary filmmakers and others interested in this issue, from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It defines itself as a "platform to defend freedom of expression and to resist censorship." Currently, India has a film certification (earlier called a censorship) board, the functioning of which has raises concerns specially among documentary filmmakers. Vikalp has an associated website called Films For Freedom.

Films for Freedom

Means Alternative This means provide solutions. This is Hindi word which means finding best one from the available options

Response to "censorship"

In February 2004,

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

played home to Vikalp: Films For Freedom, which was a six-day-long festival of documentary films. It ran parallel to the Mumbai International Film Festival MIFF 2004, and was managed by filmmakers itself. The festival screened all films rejected by the MIFF 2004, and over a dozen films withdrawn from the MIFF by filmmakers to protest what they called "covert censorship-by-selection."

Archives of Indian independent film

Films For Freedom, India's website carries an archive of Indian independent films made after 2002. Members of this network are able to post new films, reviews, list potential venues for screenings and participate in the related discussion group. Viewers are also able to invite films for screenings in their localities.

Part of Campaign Against Censorship

Vikalp is a part of 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 Literatu ...

in India. It says it "seeks to support the independent documentary movement in India and to promote alternative ways of seeing."

Key names

Some of its key members include that

Tata Institute of Social Sciences Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) is a multi-campus public research university in Mumbai, India. It is Asia's oldest institute for professional social work education and was founded in 1936 in then Bombay Presidency of British India as ...

-based filmmakers

Anjali Monteiro Anjali Monteiro is a documentary filmmaker, media educator and researcher who lives in Mumbai. She is currently Professor and Dean at the School of Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences. Jointly with K.P. Jayasankar, she ...

and K.P. Jayasankar of the

Centre for Media and Cultural Studies The School of Media and Cultural Studies, (SMCS) is a part of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the se ...

External links

Vikalp mailing list, on Yahoogroups
Film organisations in India Non-profit organisations based in India {{India-org-stub