Private Project

ANGWAL

Lalit Mohan Joshi’s ‘Angwal’ (Embrace, 2023), is a
semiautobiographical film. It presents a bird’s eye view of the high points of Kumaoni poetry from British times to the present.

Through anecdotes, music and poetry, the filmmaker builds the fascinating story of a society in churning, facing environmental decline and migration that is attacking its beauty. It also reflects the deep philosophical outlook of these poets.

  • Lalit Mohan Joshi
    Director
  • Deepak Joshi
    Producer
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    अङ्वाल
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 17 minutes 23 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 4, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    India
  • Country of Filming:
    India
  • Language:
    English, Hindi
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Lalit Mohan Joshi

LALIT MOHAN JOSHI

Lalit Mohan Joshi is a film historian, documentary filmmaker, critic, former BBC journalist and founder Director, South Asian Cinema Foundation (SACF), a not-for-profit film education organisation aimed at highlighting meaningful cinema from South Asia in London.

Lalit’s latest feature length semi-autobiographical film Angwal (Embrace, 2023) has been premiered and acclaimed at the British Film Institute (BFI) South Bank, London on Monday 7 August 2023.

Lalit has made seminal documentaries including ‘Beyond Partition’ (2006), Niranjan Pal: A Forgotten Legend’ (2011), ‘East Meets West: Indo-British Cinematic Encounters’ (2015).

Lalit’s organization, SACF has been working in collaboration with UK’s British Film Institute, various universities and the Nehru Centre in London to organise film festivals, film workshops and exhibitions and also hosts the Dadasaheb Phalke Memorial lecture on cinema.

He was the first to invite and introduce to London audiences a number of outstanding (but less well-known filmmakers in the West) like MS Sathyu, Saeed Akhtar Mirza, Shyam Benegal, Girish Kasaravalli and Vishal Bhardwaj.

He is also the Editor, South Asian Cinema journal and has edited several books on films- Bollywood - Popular Indian Cinema, A Door to ADOOR (2006), Niranjan Pal – A Forgotten Legend (2011) and A Biographical Dictionary of Indo-British Cinema (1930-1951)

In 2018 he ran a six-week course on Literature and Hindi Cinema at the BFI. Lalit is working on a new heritage project Merchant Ivory Films (1964- 2006).

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Director Statement


Angwal (Embrace) is the story of longing for one’s native place. The inspiration came from within. It is semi-autobiographical.

Angwal starts with the filmmaker’s search for his poetic roots. Two of his maternal uncles have been Kumaoni poets. After more than three decades the filmmaker is returning to his birthplace in the Himalayas. But the exploration of the tradition of Kumaoni poetry seamlessly broadens. The period covered stretches from the era of British occupation through to the present. Combining the spoken word with music that typifies the region, the film captures the responses and deep philosophical worldview of some representative poets in the face of a society undergoing profound change.