Sundarana
In the 1950s the anthropologist David F. Pocock conducted fieldwork in Sundarana, central Gujarat, with a focus on the Patidar community. Sixty years later we returned to see what changed. Focussing on a young men’s search for a bride, this documentary is about a village’s intertwining with international forms of migration, seen from the perspectives of those who fail and remain. It describes a village in which migration has become an economic and social necessity and the prerequisite to be able to belong: to acquire, land, build a house and marry.
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Dakxinkumar BajrangeDirector
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Alice TilcheWriter
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Alice Tilche and School of Oriental and African studies, University of London (SOAS)Producer
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CameramanKey CastRonal Shukla and Alice Tilche
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EditorKey CastRonal Shukla and Dakxinkumar Bajrange
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ResearcherKey CastAlice Tilche (SOAS)
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Funded byKey CastEconomic and Social Research Centre (ESRC), UK
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Production Presented byKey CastNomad Movies Pvt Ltd
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SoundKey CastDhaval Shukla
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Background ScoreKey CastGeorge St. Clare and Mrudang studio
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Project Type:Documentary
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Genres:Anthropology
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Runtime:43 minutes 54 seconds
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Completion Date:September 1, 2014
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Production Budget:7,000 GBP
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Country of Origin:United Kingdom
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Country of Filming:India
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Shooting Format:HD
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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Taiwan International Ethnographic Film FestivalTaipai
Taiwan
October 4, 2015
Taiwan Premier
Screening
Dakxinkumar Bajrange (Chhara) is an award-winning filmmaker, playwright and activist from the Chhara De-notified Tribes of Ahmedabad in the western part of India. He is a recipient of a Ford Foundation International Fellowship (2010-11) to study Graduate studies in ‘Theatre and Global Development’ at the University of Leeds, UK. His book ‘Budhan Bolta Hai’ (Budhan Speaks) was awarded first prize for "Mahatma Gandhi Best Creative Writing on Human Rights" by National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for 2010-11. He also receives Rajiv Gandhi Arts Fellowship (2004-05) and Bhasha Fellowship (2002-03) to study art forms of nomadic and de-notified communities in Gujarat. For films he is also the recipient of the Kerala State Award at the International Documentary Short Film Festival of Kerala for the film “The Last Man” in Dec 2021, Recipient of the Best Director Award and “Award for Excellence” at the 7th Art Independent International Film Festival for the film “Budhan Podcast” in Jan 2022, Recipient of Best Director” and “Best Documentary Award” at the Picasso Einstein Buddha International Film Festival for “The Last Man” Jan 2022, Recipient of Donald E. Lacy, Jr. Social Justice Award at the Studio City International Film Festival for my recent documentary film The Last Man 2020, Recipient of Award of Merit at 7th Arts International Film Festival for my film “The Last Man” Nov. 2020, Recipient of Best Director award for his recent film “Covid 19 Blame Game” at the 7th Arts International Film Festival, Nov 2020, Nominated for Social Impact Award for Theatre and Films (2019) by Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) 2019. Members of the public also nominated him for Fellowship for Freedom of Expression, INDEX, UK, 2018, Nominated as “Heroes of Ahmedabad” by Ahmedabad Mirror Newspaper in 2014, and Invited by United Nations to speak about India’s Nomadic and De-notified Tribes in NY in 2007. He is co-author of the book titled “Vimukta - Freedom Stories”, edited by him and Prof. Henry Schwarz of Georgetown University published on 31st Aug 2021 by Navyana Publication House. For more info about my work, recognitions, and media links, please visit www.dakxinchhara.in
Currently, he works as an “Artistic Director” at Budhan Theatre (www.budhantheatre.org), he is also a founding director of Nomad Movies Pvt Ltd. He has written and Directed 13 plays Supervised 48 Theatre Productions of Budhan Theatre and performed more than 1000 shows in different parts of India. He was nominated for "Heroes of Ahmedabad" by Ahmedabad Mirror. As a Filmmaker, he directed 94 fiction and non-fiction films/TV series on various developmental, social and political issues of India He has recently directed his debuted critically acclaimed Bollywood film "Sameer", starring Zeeshan Mohammed, Seema Biswas, Anjali Patil. Sameer was released in theatres in India on 8th Sept 2017 and also screened at New York Indian Film Festival (USA), Charlotte Asian Film Festival (USA) and the Indian International Film Festival of Queensland, Australia where he received the "Best Director" award for 'Sameer". Recently he has finished his film “The Last Man” and finished 20 episodes of Budhan Podcast as “Project Director”, funded by University of Leicester, UK
His academic and journalistic articles on Theatre and Films appeared in several national and international journals/newspapers include,