Raj Amit Kumar

Raj Amit Kumar
Born (1978-04-01) 1 April 1978
Residence Florida, USA
Nationality Indian
Education PhD candidate
Alma mater

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

City University of New York
Occupation Filmmaker
Organization Dark Frames
Website www.rajamitkumar.com

Raj Amit Kumar is a filmmaker, whose socio-political drama Unfreedom: Blemished Light [1] is completed. He founded Dark Frames with the commitment to bring out stories that speak of "unfreedom" in human life.[2]

Media Academic

He graduated with a Masters of Arts in Cinema and Media Studies from College of Staten Island (CUNY) in 2006[3] where he received the George Custen Memorial Award for Academic Excellence. He has also been awarded by the National Scholarship of India for Academic Excellence, and a First Prize in Faculty Screenwriting Award at University Film and Video Association (UFVA) 2009.[4]

Having finished his PhD coursework[5] in Cinema and Media studies at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) he began work on his first feature-length film Unfreedom: Blemished Light.

He is also a media academic, teacher, and writer. He has taught cinema theory and history at both his alma maters, City University of New York and Southern Illinois University Carbondale, between the years 2005 to 2009. His writings and research papers have been published and presented at various conferences as well.[6]

Filmmaker

Unfreedom, a socio-political drama is his first feature film. Set in New York and New Delhi,[7] the film deals with issues of identity and violence.

The film stars Victor Banerjee[8] and Adil Hussain.[9] In a recent interview, Victor Banerjee commended Raj Amit Kumar for his approach to sex and violence in this film, which were an essential part of the story and screenplay even though he has usually condemned the vulgarity with which these are approached in mainstream cinema.[10]

National Film Awards winner Hari Nair is the cinematographer of the film.[11] Academy Award winner Resul Pookutty has done the Sound Design and Original Music Score is by Filmfare Awards winner Wayne Sharpe and Jesse Kotansky.

The script for this film won the first prize in the 2009 Faculty Screenwriting Competition at University Film and Video Association.[12]

Fight Against Censorship

In India, his debut feature Unfreedom was refused certification by the Examining Committee. A revising committee of the Censor Board proposed cuts to the director which he refused and appealed against the Censor Board's demand for cuts to the Indian Government's Information and Broadcasting Appellate Tribunal FCAT. In response to his appeal, the authorities completely banned the film regardless of cuts, robbing Kumar of any opportunity to publicly release the film in India.[13]

Raj Amit Kumar is now fighting censorship and going to the High Court. Recently, the news of banning has gained widespread coverage in the media, bringing other filmmakers in the fight against Censorship.[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "American Indian director Amit to make BLEMISHED LIGHT – Yahoo! News India". In.news.yahoo.com. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  2. ↑ "Samrat Chakrabarti's experience with Kamal Haasan and Victor Banerjee". 27 October 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  3. ↑ "Alumni – CSI Media Culture". Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  4. ↑ "Recent Graduate Student News – SIUC MCMA". www.facebook.com. 29 September 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  5. ↑ "Director's Note – Blemished Light". Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  6. ↑ "Ghost Town: The Forgotten History of Grant Road's Cinemas". Mumbai Boss. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  7. ↑ "Life of Pi's Hussain is thankful". 19 December 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  8. ↑ "Victor signs Indian-American director's film – Movies News – Bollywood – ibnlive". Ibnlive.in.com. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  9. ↑ "'Grey Matter – Bollywood's latest discovery – Adil Hussain seeks complex roles in the industry'". 28 December 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  10. ↑ "Is it time to get serious with Bollywood films?". 5 April 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  11. ↑ "Hit by the shutter bug". 18 October 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  12. ↑ "Recent Graduate Student News – SIUC MCMA". www.facebook.com. 29 September 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  13. ↑ "BOARD BANS FILM ON GAYS, CLAIMS IT'LL IGNITE 'UNNATURAL PASSION'". Mumbai Mirror. 2015-03-28. Retrieved 2015-04-03.
  14. ↑ "After Unfreedom Ban, filmmakers come together in the fight against Censorship". Times Now. 2015-04-01. Retrieved 2015-04-03.
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