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Anamitra Roy
Anamitra Roy was born in 1988 in Bandel, West Bengal, India to an average Bengali family. His mother is a teacher and father is a theater-activist. He went to Hooghly Collegiate Sc...visualizza altroAnamitra Roy was born in 1988 in Bandel, West Bengal, India to an average Bengali family. His mother is a teacher and father is a theater-activist. He went to Hooghly Collegiate School where he received his earlier education with a special focus on science subjects. By the end of schools, his interests were shifted to journalism. He was already working as a journalist for a district-based newspaper, which made him choose media to be the subject of his further education. In 2008, Roy became a graduate of Media Studies and he carried on with academics till obtaining his master degree in Film Studies from Jadavpur University in 2010.
While Roy was studying the media, media also started studying him. In December 2006, Roy's name came into the news for the first time as a teenage cultural activist. He was arrested from one of the biggest cultural hubs (Ravindra Sadan Complex) in Kolkata during the state sponsored poetry festival while leading a poster campaign in protest against the government's policies on acquisition of agricultural land and police atrocities on farmers. This incident caused births of several cultural activists' consolidations which Roy never became a part of. In March of 2007, he published an alternative literary bulletin named "Byas" [Diameter: rough translation, also Bengali pronounciation of 'Vyasa', the creator of the Indian epic "Mahabharata"] which featured a special supplement on "anti-establishment in Bengali literature". By February 2008, three different issues of "Byas" had already been published when Roy came up with his collection of poems named "Shabdoprokriyakoron" [Word-Conjuring]. The format of this hand-written and hand-illustrated (by Sripana) book is still a benchmark of alternative publication and it is widely followed by new and upcoming indie authors and alternative magazines in Bengal. After this, Roy went on to publish two other literary bulletins, namely "Randhanshala" [The Caboose: rough translation] in 2009 and "Big Bango" [The Big Satire: rough translation] in 2010.
Roy started shooting his first independent short film in 2007 along with Sriparna (his wife). It was a docu-fiction around the life and works of Subimal Mishra, the maverick and audacious anti-establishment author from Bengal. In December 2008, 'Little Fish Eat Big Fish', the first no-budget filmmakers' collaborative out of India, was born. This is the forum that took DIY filmmaking practice in India to a whole new level. For the first time in the country, direct to DVD release of indie films took place successfully without any aid from corporate entities or the mainstream film industry in 2010 under the name of 'Five No-Budget Films'. Roy contributed to this process by editing all the five films and making his own short named "Jean-Luc Godard Had No Script" which gained a lot of popularity in the following years. It was made for less than USD 10 $. The process continued for the next two years and that's how 'Season Two: No Budget Film' and 'No Budget Films: 3rd Compilation' (2012) came into existence. 'Smriti... Mrito Janopaud aka Memories... of a Dead Township ' happens to be Roy's latest short film that was a part of the 2012 compilation. It was made for zero bucks literally. No money was involved in the production of the film. Also, this is the only film made under the banner of LFEBF that crossed national boundary (as film festival submission was against the forum's ideological standpoint) and became part of other indie filmmakers' film exhibition program in the US.
2012 was the year when the campaign for 'The 0ne Rupee Film Project' was launched. The film is actually titled 'Aashmani Jawaharat aka Diamonds in the Sky'. Since its launch, the project went on to create waves across India. Never was a marginal film so much heard, read or shared about. It became a part of 'The Goa Project' in March, 2013, 'Shortbusters, Bangalore' in November, 2013 and the 'Indiearth Xchange' in December, 2013. It was featured in the '1st Kolikata International Film Festival' that took place in September, 2013. Except these, the film has been a part of the Mumbai Film Mart at the Mumbai International Film Festival, 2013 and also Film Bazaar at International Film Festival of India, Goa, 2013. But the market always has its own rules and the final thing to say. The film is stuck in the last stage of post production due to lack of funds since October, 2013. Two times release dates have been postponed. It's a feature-length (132 minute) docu-fiction about the indie film scenario in India made for 300,000 INR approximately (USD 5,000 $). Two books about the film is already available on the internet and the 3rd one is coming soon. Also, the screenplay will be made available for e-book readers this year. It's been more than 800 days and no one knows the fate of the film yet.
As a freelancer, Roy has worked with the Jat regiment of the Indian army. The film, 'Jat Balwan' (2011), is now available on Youtube by due permission of the concerned authority.visualizza meno