Indian Documentary Film and Filmmakers: Independence in Practice

• Simultaneous engagement with the wider discipline of documentary studies and the practice of Indian independent documentary
• Examination of documentary ethics and issues related to consent, drawing upon the voices of documentary participants
• Critical discussion of emerging issues and questions of crowdfunding, piracy, digital storytelling and online exhibition
• The first in-depth critical study of NGO funded independent documentary, its aesthetic and political struggles in relation to films and film cultures

Independent documentary is enjoying a resurgence in post-reform India. But in contemporary cinema and media cultures, where ‘independent’ operates as an industry genre or critical category, how do we understand the significance of this mode of cultural production?

Based on detailed onsite observation of documentary production, circulation practices and the analysis of film texts, this book identifies independence as a 'tactical practice’, contesting the normative definitions and functions assigned to culture, cultural production and producers in a neoliberal economic system. Focusing on selected filmmakers, the book establishes how they have reorganised the dominance of industrial media, technology and social relations to develop practices that build upon principles of de-economisation, artisanship and interdependence.