Q&A: Anand Patwardhan
Anand Patwardhan has been making political documentaries for nearly three decades, pursuing diverse and controversial issues that are at the crux of social and political life in India. Many of his films were at one time or another banned by state TV channels in India and became the subject of litigation by Patwardhan who successfully challenged the rulings in court.
Patwardhan received a BA in English from Bombay University in 1970 and earned a master’s degree in communications from McGill University, Canada, in 1982.
As an activist he has participated in the Vietnam anti-war movement; as a volunteer in the Kishore Bahrati rural development and education project; in the Bihar anti-corruption movement of 1974 to 1975 and in the civil liberties and democratic rights movement during and after the 1975 to 1977 State of Emergency. He has been active in movements for housing rights of the urban poor, in the movement against the Narmada dam and against nuclear testing in South Asia.
Do you think September 11 2001 has changed the way people watch films?
September 11 was a tragedy but it is not the only tragedy the world has seen in recent times and it may be almost racist to give it so much more weight than the killings in Rwanda, Bosnia, or for that matter, the bombing of Afghanistan and Baghdad, in which perhaps as many, if not more, civilians died than in the World Trade Centre. This is not to play the numbers game or to neutralise the horror of September 11, but merely to put it into perspective.
As far as the way people watch films, I don’t think September 11 left a lasting impact. For a short period Hollywood laid off the disaster movie and apocalyptic themes, but they are back at it and the new “war on terror” films will be with us long after [United States President] George W Bush and [British Prime Minister] Tony Blair are relegated to the dustbin of history.
How do you see your role within a world where news coverage is frequently indistinguishable from propaganda?
I am wary of the word “propaganda”. The right, and those who wish not to be disturbed from their daydream of prosperity and patriotism, always accuse me of propaganda, while I feel I’m investigating my subjects as honestly as I can. On my part I see many news channels like Fox and India’s own Doordarshan as having a clear political agenda that interferes with analysis and even accurate news gathering. One man’s propaganda is another man’s truth, but because the state and the corporations control mass media, when an alternate view is presented from the one that is being force-fed, it is this alternate view that is usually accused of bias.
Do documentary filmmakers have a duty to remain objective? Is it important to approach issues and subjects with a viewpoint?
As I already stated “objective” is an impossibility because no filmmaker is a machine. We come with all our biases and our baggage and so perhaps the best thing one can do is to drop the pretence of objectivity and to state our positions clearly and stand up for them. That is less manipulative than pretending to be soulless, heartless and pointless.
How much of a story do you write? How much do you tell?
I never write shooting scripts. I film and edit and film again and edit again, and only add a thin narrative at the very end of the filmmaking process if there is a need to bridge a gap that cannot otherwise be filled, or to provide information or a thought line that does not flow automatically from the material gathered. In other words, the attempt is always to stick to found material and the use of outside intervention is a compromise that at times becomes necessary to keep the focus.
What inspires you to make films?
Usually things that I’m angry and upset about, although some day I’d love to be able to make happier films.
What three words of wisdom would you give a young filmmaker who is starting out?
Don’t do it (unless you must).
Do you believe the camera simply informs, or does it invoke change?
Change is hard to measure. But in the case of violations of human rights, if you genuinely inform, you have already provided the catalyst for change.