Meera Dewan

Meera Dewan
NationalityIndian
CitizenshipIndia
Occupation(s)Filmmaker, Columnist

Meera Dewan is a social-issue documentary filmmaker and columnist based out of New Delhi, India. Since 1983, Meera has directed award winning documentaries on alternate visions for society, including equality for women, children, indigenous people, and on the themes around the protection of our shared planet. She has filmed extensively in India, S Asia, Vietnam, Germany, Canada. Her films have won over 21 international and national awards including at International Film Festival of India; Festival de films du femmes, France; Oberhausen Film Festival (4 Awards); Leipzig Film Festival, Reina Film Festival, France; Okomedia Film Fest, (Grand Jury Award), Mumbai International Film Fest, National Film Festival, India.

Career

Her first documentary, "Gift of Love", was an anti-dowry film for Films Division of India.[1] Since then she has filmed documentaries in South Asia, Vietnam, Germany and Canada. Her films have won over 21 international and national awards, including at the Reina Film Festival, Okomedia Film Festival, International Film Festival of India, Festival de films du femmes, Oberhausen Film Festival, Leipzig Film Festival and the Mumbai International Film Festival. She has been on the juries of the Leipzig, Okomedia, Oberhausen, Freiberg, Indian Panorama and National Film Festivals.[2]

Dewan (left) at IFFI 2012

She has produced and directed over 70 documentary films.[3] Her latest films include "In his Inner Voice: Kuldip Nayar", a biography of South Asia’s beloved chronicler journalist Kuldip Nayar (link below) for Films Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The film features Gulzar, Arpana Caur, Noor Zaheer, Deepmala Mohan and other artists.[4]

Her documentary for the Films Division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, on the 12th Century mystic poet, Baba Farid, "Baba Farid: Poet of the Soul" was released in 2019.[5]

Another documentary premiered in 2017 made by Meera Dewan for PSBT is "DHUN MEIN DHYAN: Meditations in Music in the Guru Granth Sahib" underlining the multi-faith aspects of the Guru Granth Sahib. The film has shabads or verses sung by renowned Sufi singer Hans Raj Hans, 13th generation Keertaniya Bhai Kultar Singh, thumri singer Vidya Rao and paintings by internationally known artist Arpana Caur.[6][7][8][9]

Her ongoing work includes a series of films in Punjab, including the widely screened film on the langar tradition of food sharing, "Gur Prasad: The Grace of Food".[10]

Meera curates films. As a guest curator for International Film Festival of India, IFFI, Goa, she conceptualized and curated SOUL OF ASIA, a popular film section that explores diverse aspects of Faith, in theory and practice. The films raise ethical and existential — and sometimes political — questions.[11][12][13][14]

She guest-curated a retrospective of the films of writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala titled "Three Continents" to celebrate the work and life of the writer.[15][16]

Meera is passionate about working on issues relating to eliminating hunger for which she has launched media campaigns, including for Oxfam.[17][18][19]

Meera is also a columnist and has written on a wide range of topics, ranging from spirituality to social issues. She has written in the Outlook (Indian magazine) and The Indian Express. She has written on open prison systems and the archaic justice delivery system,[20] and how climate is a refugee in the story of nature and man in poetry.[21]

Occasionally, Meera writes for national newspapers, one of the article being: ′The divine principles of sharing resources, hunger, justice in immigration.[22][23][24]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Meera Dewan.

References

  1. ^ "Meera Dewan". wmm.com. Archived from the original on 18 May 2016., Women Make Movies, Retrieved 17 June 2015
  2. ^ http://www.psbt.org/directors/73 Archived 2015-06-18 at the Wayback Machine, Public Service Broadcasting Trust, Retrieved 17 June 2015
  3. ^ Rana, Yudhvir (16 May 2013). "Meera Dewan presents first copy of new production piece". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 17 September 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  4. ^ "Such a Long Journey". 20 September 2017. Archived from the original on 14 November 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  5. ^ "'It feels like he was born for today,' says documentary filmmaker Meera Dewan". The Indian Express. 1 February 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  6. ^ Parsai, Gargi (18 September 2017). "Contemporary and relevant". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 27 November 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  7. ^ "The Ultimate Teaching". www.speakingtree.in. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  8. ^ "A tribute to the poets of the Guru Granth Sahib" – via PressReader.
  9. ^ "a-tribute-to-the-poets-of-the-guru-granth-sahib".
  10. ^ Mander, Harsh (18 May 2013). "The joy of giving". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 12 August 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  11. ^ Mander, Harsh (30 November 2013). "Interrogating faith". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  12. ^ "Images from IFFI - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com.
  13. ^ "NEW DAWN, NEW DAY". www.speakingtree.in.
  14. ^ "Film maker must take Cinema to highest level of communication: Muzaffar Ali". www.indiainfoline.com.
  15. ^ "The Artist: A retrospective celebrates the genius of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala". 17 December 2014. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  16. ^ "Ruth Jhabvala was an unusual author-screenplay writer". Hindustan Times. 17 January 2015. Archived from the original on 29 November 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  17. ^ "Artists unite to fight against hunger". www.sunday-guardian.com.
  18. ^ http://archive.asianage.com/life-and-style/city-unites-create-hunger-free-world- [dead link‍]
  19. ^ "Award winning documentary filmmaker, Meera Dewan has launched a multi-media and action project "ANNA-AAJ: Food now". She intends collaborating with volunteers and professionals who care about fighting hunger across the world, to join in. Meera's first film, "Gift of love" had won 11 international awards at leading film festivals. Her latest, "Traveling light", is a documentary tracing the life of Canadian MP Ujjal Dosanjh". The Times of India. 11 September 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  20. ^ "Why India Needs Open Prisons To Revive Its Archaic Justice Delivery System". Outlook (Indian magazine). Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  21. ^ "Climate Is A Refugee: The Story Of Nature And Man In Poetry". Outlook (Indian magazine). July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  22. ^ "Karma On A Platter". www.speakingtree.in.
  23. ^ "Give Away One-Tenth". www.speakingtree.in.
  24. ^ "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Opinions". www.tribuneindia.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2020.