Feb
16
Gujarat Documentary Wins International Film Awards
February 16, 2004 | Comments Off on Gujarat Documentary Wins International Film Awards
Rakesh Sharma’s documentary on Gujarat after the 2002 pogroms against Muslims—Final Solution—won two awards at a Berlin international film festival. Sharma’s film had been denied a screening at the Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF), most likely because of its political nature. Final Solution interviews survivors of Godhra and the Gujarat pogroms, as well as VHP leaders:
Weaving alternatively through the lives of the Hindus who lost their dear ones in the train tragedy and Muslims who were affected by the subsequent riots, Sharma documents a society that continues to be polarised on communal lines more than a year after the riots.
“Final Solution” also probes the systematic efforts made by the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its radical affiliates like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal to penetrate the interiors of Gujarat over the past two decades.
Unlike other filmmakers, Sharma scored by getting some of the VHP leaders to open up on record.
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