Film phase:Completed
SYNOPSIS
In November 2020, Gurbaz Sangha, a young farmer from Punjab, embarked on a remarkable journey. Riding his tractor for 400 kilometers to Delhi, he joined forces with thousands, and later more than half a million, men and women from diverse backgrounds. Their united mission: to stand against the newly enacted Farm Laws, despite widespread opposition. Amid a COVID lockdown, these farmers—representing over half of India’s workforce—vowed to remain at the borders until the laws were repealed. In this parallel world, they redefined co-existence, with women emerging as equal political partners rather than mere supporting characters. Day after day, the protesters showcased India’s pluralistic, defiant and resilient spirit—often overlooked by the media. As the movement gained momentum, farmers across the country and trade unions of industrial workers rallied in solidarity. The scale of these protests echoed the spirit of India’s independence movement, culminating in an unexpected, triumphant outcome.
Farming the Revolution was supported through Nishtha Jain’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award.
ABOUT THE DIRECTORS & PRODUCERS
Nishtha Jain (she/her) is an internationally-recognized filmmaker based in Mumbai best known for Gulabi Gang (2012), Lakshmi and Me (2007) and City of Photos (2004). Her films interrogate lived experience at the intersection of gender, caste and class. They explore the political in the personal and uncover the mechanisms of privilege. Jain is a Chicken & Egg Award winner (2020); Member of the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences (AMPAS); Film Independent Global Media Maker Fellow (2019-20); and Recipient of Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowship (2019). After postgraduate training at Jamia Mass Communication Research Centre, New Delhi, she pursued Film Direction at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, prior to launching a career in independent cinema.
She works across various platforms –documentary, narrative, virtual reality and TV series. Her films have been widely screened at film festivals and art-house cinemas and broadcast on TV and have won over 25 international awards and have been reviewed by print-media and academic journals. Jain has served as a juror at IDFA, ZFF, Cinema Verité and IDSFFK. She’s given lectures and master classes at numerous film festivals and universities internationally, including Stanford, NYU, Wellesley College, UCSB, Northwestern University, UT Austin, Cambridge University, University of London, St. Andrews University, Heidelberg, Danish Film School, FTII Pune, India, Satyajit Ray Film & TV Institute.
Akash Basumatari (he/him) is an emerging filmmaker from North-East of India. His academic training in Media and Cultural studies from TISS Mumbai has equipped him with strong research skills to engage meaningfully with the craft over the years. His final graduating film Dar-B-Dar (The Itinerants) won the Special Jury Mention (student film) at the Indian Documentary Producers Association Awards 2017, and has been selected in many film festivals across the country.
He has worked with SPS Community Media in a severely drought-prone area of Madhya Pradesh, in Central India for 3 years. Working primarily with poor tribal farmers, who serve as the subjects for the films as well as the audience, he has been exposed to a plethora of rich and diverse experiences that have only added to his versatility as a filmmaker. At SPS, he had been involved in film projects pertaining to issues like land rights, malnutrition, food sovereignty, agriculture, land rights, and poverty.
ABOUT THE PRODUCERS
Valerie Montmartin (she/her) specializes in ambitious international co-productions, notably producing Number 387 for ARTE France, selected by the 2018 (Egg)celerator Lab, and On the Inside of a Military Dictatorship in the 2019 competition at CPH DOX and HOT DOCS. She received the PROCIREP French Television Producer Award in the documentary category in 2018. She has been a full member of the CNC’s selective commission since June 2019. She is part of the EAVE program in 2020 with the feature film Séraphine.
Torstein Grude (he/him) is an award-winning film director, cinematographer, and producer based in Stavanger, Norway. He is the founder and partner of Piraya Film and Hinterland Nova and Kudos Family Distribution. His recent productions include the Emmy-nominated Belorussian Waltz (dir. Andrzej Fidyk, 2007), the Joris Ivens finalist Yodok Stories (dir. Andrzej Fidyk, 2009), and the Chicago Film Fest winner On a Tightrope (Dir. Petr Lom, 2007). He also produced Gulabi Gang (dir. Nishtha Jain, 2012) which won the Grimstad Film Festival Documentary award in 2012.