An Indian film Farming The Revolution which follows the 2020-21 Farmers’ Protest 1.0 against three controversial farm laws, won top honors at the Hot Docs — a prestigious international festival. The feature by Mumbai-based filmmaker Nishtha Jain was the winner of the Best International Feature Documentary Award and a $10K cash prize at the largest documentary film festival in North America on 4 May. The jury statement read, ‘For its slow study on the poetics of labor organizing, its regal treatment of atmosphere, and intimate embeddedness in a legendary encampment (that has recently begun again this past February due to unfulfilled promises by the reigning government), the International Feature Competition Jury awards Best International Feature Documentary to Nishtha Jain’s Farming the Revolution, co-directed by Akash Basumatari. With endurance, clarity, and purpose, Jain and Basumatari take audiences inside the full dynamic range of India’s over one-year-long farmers’ protest between 2020 and 2021. Today, as encampments spring up on university campuses around the world, including here in Toronto, the jury commends the filmmakers’ commitments to providing a grounded perspective on the communities of care that encampments produce. Farming the Revolution spotlights the power of ordinary people with an enduring cinematic sophistication and an indomitable lyrical presence.’ Hot Docs is an Academy Award qualifying festival and Farming The Revolution will be in the running for consideration in the Best Documentary Feature category of the annual Oscars without the standard theatrical run, provided they comply with Academy rules.
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