Fourteenth International Conference on The Image

Abstract

This paper brings forth an intersection between Indian Cinema, Indigenous studies and decolonising anthropology. It presents an overview about various films made about indigenous/ adivasi/ tribal communities in India in the Hindi, Bengali and Telugu film industries. It describes the normality of mis-representation of the indigenous communities in Hindi Cinema and also emphasises on the appropriation of the culture and traditions of various indigenous communities. The paper engages with the significant need for the indigenous/ adivasi/ tribal voices from the communities in the film-making. The study engages with the work of emerging indigenous filmmakers of the Chotanagpur area in the Eastern part of India, which is geographically located across the States of Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar and Chhattisgarh. In doing so, the paper analyses their films and uses personal interviews with filmmakers to inquire further into the methodologies used by filmmakers to make their respective films. It underscores the change and shift in indigenous films, where the films are questioning and addressing the important social issues of their communities. The study ultimately helps understand how these ethnographic films support the decolonising of anthropology in the field of filmmaking by reimagining the future of adivasi filmmaking.