Farming the Revolution

In the presence of the director

Directed by: Nishtha JAIN, co-directed by Akash BASUMATARI

Synopsis

In November 2020, Gurbaz Sangha, a 26-year-old Indian farmer, traveled 400 kilometers on his tractor, from his native Punjab to the outskirts of Delhi. Like him, hundreds of thousands of men and women, from all castes, religions, and generations, joined the capital with one goal: to oppose the agrarian reform imposed by the government of Narendra Modi.

The protesters set up camp at the four “borders”—the critical entry points of Delhi’s ring road. Despite the government’s disdain and increasingly violent police harassment, they stayed, season after season, revealing a diverse, courageous, and incredibly inventive India. After 14 months of an epic struggle, marked by a series of police raids that claimed the lives of 720 of them, the farmers won. Farming the Revolution offers a breathtaking immersion into the heart of the most impressive social and political movement of our time.

Duration: 105 minutes
Year: 2023
Feature-length documentary competition

DOMIN Award selection

Country and Language
India
Hindi – Punjabi
Subtitled in French and English

Production

Little Big Story
Raintree Films

Co-produced by Arte France
and Piraya Films

Location

Ciné Cambaie

Screening

04/06 at 2:00 PM

Nishtha JAIN

Nishtha Jain is an award-winning Indian filmmaker, known notably for Gulabi Gang (2012), Lakshmi and Me (2007), City of Photos (2004), and The Golden Thread (2022). Her films intersect with issues of gender, caste, and class. They consistently explore the connection between the personal and the political to reveal mechanisms of domination. Workers and popular movements hold a central place in Nishtha Jain’s cinema.

Akash BASUMATARI

Akash Basumatari has emerged as a rising documentary filmmaker in India, whose work bridges the invisible stories of marginalized communities and the wider world. His filmography includes several short documentary films, weaving a unique style of earthy and meditative exploration of rural communities, nature, culture, and existential themes, always infused with poetry and imagination.