Shabnam Virmani is a documentary filmmaker and artist in residence at the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology in Bangalore since 2002. Co-founder of the Drishti Media Arts and Human Rights collective, she has directed several documentaries, some of which have won awards. In 2002, she co-directed an award-winning community radio program with the Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan in Gujarat. She has performed Kabir's compositions in Rajasthan Kabir Yatra - a six-days long folk music festival and in Jashn-e-Rekhta.
Kabira Khada Bazaar Mein, a documentary film by Shabnam Virmani on the poet-saint as part of her Kabir Project, has won the Special Jury Prize at the 58th National Awards, June 2011.
She was conferred this award for,"An insightful film that introduces us to the various cults that have grown around Kabir, the mystic weaver and saint. It explores the nuances of India's argumentative tradition as exemplified by Kabir's dohas and traces the eventful journey of one man caught in an Orwellian dilemma as he is elevated to the status of a cult leader, torn between the inevitable trappings of hierarchy that run paradoxical to the simple philosophy of Kabir".
Awards and nominations
Had-Anhad (Bounded-Boundless) Journeys with Ram and Kabir
1st Prize (shared), One Billion Eyes Documentary Film Festival, August 2009, Chennai Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival, 5–9 November, New York City World Performing Arts Festival, Nov 2008, Lahore, Pakistan Bangalore International Film Festival, Jan 2009, Bangalore, India Kala Ghoda Festival, Feb 2009, Mumbai Inaugural film, VIBGYOR International Film Festival, Feb 2009, Thrissur, Kerala, India
Chalo Hamara Des (Come to My Country) Journeys with Kabir and Friends One Billion Eyes Documentary Film Festival, August 2008, Chennai, India World Performing Arts Festival, Nov 2008, Lahore, Pakistan International Festival of Sacred Arts, Feb 2009 Delhi, India VIBGYOR International Film Festival, Feb 2009, Thrissur, Kerala, India
Koi Sunta Hai (Someone Listens) Journeys with Kumar and Kabir One Billion Eyes Documentary Film Festival, August 2008, Chennai, India World Performing Arts Festival, Nov 2008, Lahore, Pakistan VIBGYOR International Film Festival, Feb 2009, Thrissur, Kerala, India
Kabira Khada Bazaar Mein (In the Market Stands Kabir) Journeys with Kabir and Friends Special Jury Prize at the 58th National Awards, India, June 2011.
When Women Unite:The Story of an Uprising/Aadavallu Ekamaite
Grand Prize, 6th Tokyo Global Environmental Film Festival, 1997. Chingari Video Festival, Conference on South Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA, 1996 Margaret Mead International Film Festival, New York City, 1997 Margaret Mead Travelling Film and Video Festival, 1997–98 Film South Asia, Kathmandu, Nepal, 1997 5th Mumbai International Film Festival, 1998 Sakshi Film Festival, Bangalore, 1998 Prakriti Film Festival, Pune, 1999 New Delhi Video Festival, 1999
Tu Zinda Hai!/You Are Alive! Awarded Best Film in the Society & Development Category, International Video Festival (IVFEST), Thiruvananthapuram, 1995 Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, Japan, 1997 Chingari Video Festival, Conference of South Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA, 1997 Film South Asia, Kathmandu, Nepal, 1997 Prakriti Film Festival, Hyderabad, 1997 Fribourg International Film Festival, Switzerland, 1998
Umati Umang ni Damri/Hopes Soaring High
Mumbai International Film Festival, Video Vista, 1996
Margaret Mead International Film Festival, New York, 1996
Margaret Mead Travelling Film Festival, USA, 1996–97
Kunjal Paanje Kutch Ji (Sarus Crane of our Kutch) Radio production Chameli Devi Jain Award for Women in Journalism, March 2001
Notes
External links
Drishti Media Arts and Human Rights collective
Indian women film directors
Indian women journalists
Living people
Cornell University alumni
Indian women documentary filmmakers
20th-century Indian film directors
Film directors from Bangalore
Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Indian film directors 21st-century Indian women artists 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian writers 21st-century Indian journalists 20th-century Indian women