Sumitra Bhave

Age: 77
Ethnicity: South Asian (Indian)
Occupation and/or Company: Film-maker / Auteur (Writer, Director, Production designer, Producer, Art director, Costume designer)
Name of production house: Sumitra Bhave Films
Years of experience: 35 years as a film maker, 10 years as a social – work teacher, 10 years as a women’s researcher.

Personal & professional philosophy:
As a social work teacher and a social scientist – researcher turned filmmaker, filmmaking communicates my research findings with the illiterate women in India. Cinema can produce an ethical experience capable of transforming us aesthetically, psychologically, and even culturally.

Upcoming performances/ project:
To make a web series on the life of Acharya Vinoba Bhave and his Bhoodan movement. To make a feature film highlighting the banes of large dams. To make an anthology of three short films which explores different facets of LGBTQ+ relationships.

What is the highlight of your work?
I have written and directed feature films on the subjects which have stigma attached to them, like HIV / AIDS, schizophrenia, vitiligo, depression and dementia. I empathize with people who are outcast or who are totally invisible. Films are cultural signifiers and my alternative style of film making makes cinema as a cultural space more democratic and open in nature.

Future goals:
I wish to keep learning the art and craft of film-making while exploring different genres, facets and aesthetics of cinema.