The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Kumari, Kumari Devi, or the Living Goddess is the tradition of worshipping a chosen virgin as manifestations of the divine female energy or Shakti in Dharmic Nepali religious traditions. It is believed that the girl is possessed by the goddess Taleju or Durga. The word Kumari is derived from Sanskrit meaning princess. The procession is akin to Indra or Sakra, taking Indrani to his celestial abode as his bride. The festival is celebrated during Kumari Jantra, which follows the Indra Jatra religious ceremony.
Street Fight is a 2005 documentary film by Marshall Curry, chronicling the 2002 Newark mayoral election which pitted upstart Cory Booker against the incumbent Sharpe James for Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. Other credits include Rory Kennedy, Liz Garbus, Mary Manhardt, Marisa Karplus, Catherine Jones, and Adam Etline. Street Fight screened at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival and was later aired on the PBS series P.O.V. on July 5, 2005, and CBC Newsworld in Canada on May 7, 2006. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
Planet Earth is a 2006 British television series produced by the BBC Natural History Unit. Five years in the making, it was the most expensive nature documentary series ever commissioned by the BBC and also the first to be filmed in high definition. The series received multiple awards, including four Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award, and an award from the Royal Television Society.
The AFI Docs documentary film festival was an American international film festival. Created by the American Film Institute and the Discovery Channel, it was held annually in Silver Spring, Maryland and Washington, D.C., from 2003 to 2022, when it was merged into AFI Fest, a Los Angeles-based film festival.
Chicago 10: Speak Your Peace is a 2007 American animated documentary written and directed by Brett Morgen that tells the story of the Chicago Eight. The Chicago Eight were charged by the United States federal government with conspiracy, crossing state lines with intent to incite a riot, and other charges related to anti-Vietnam War and countercultural protests in Chicago, Illinois during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
Irene Taylor is a Peabody and Emmy-winning, Oscar-nominated director and producer whose documentaries have shown theatrically, at film festivals and stream worldwide.
Kiri Laurelle Davis is an American filmmaker based in New York City. Her first documentary, A Girl Like Me (2005), made while enrolled at Reel Works Teen Filmmaking, received significant news coverage.
Liz Tucker is a British documentary producer and director. She joined the BBC in the early nineties, working initially as a radio producer before moving into television. She started her career on screen working on the show Tomorrow's World, where she told the story of Trevor Baylis, inventor of the Clockwork Radio. Following the publicity surrounding the film, Trevor shortly afterwards signed a deal resulting in the worldwide launch of his radio. While at the BBC, Tucker also worked on a range of documentary programmes/series including QED, Horizon and Life Before Birth. After leaving the BBC and working as a freelance director, she launched her own production company, Verve Productions, in 2007.
Before the Rains is a 2007 Indian-British period drama film directed by Santosh Sivan. The film is adapted from a story from the 2001 anthology Israeli film Asphalt Zahov. Before the Rains is set in 1930s Malabar District of the Madras Presidency of British India, against the backdrop of a growing nationalist movement. An idealistic young Indian man, T.K. Neelan finds himself torn between his ambitions for the future and his loyalty to tradition when people in his village learn of an affair between his British boss and close friend Henry Moores and a married village woman Sajani.
Mugabe and the White African is a 2009 documentary film by Lucy Bailey & Andrew Thompson and produced by David Pearson & Elizabeth Morgan Hemlock. It has won many awards including the Grierson 2010 and been BAFTA and Emmy Nominated. The film documents the lives of a white Zimbabwean family who run a farm in Chegutu, as they challenge the Fast Track land redistribution programme that redistributed white-owned estates, a legacy of colonialism and UDI, beginning in 2000. The film follows Mike Campbell, his son-in-law Ben Freeth, and their family as they challenge Robert Mugabe and the Zimbabwean government before the Southern African Development Community tribunal for racial discrimination and human rights violations. The film premiered in the UK on 21 October 2009 at the London Film Festival.
Sons of Perdition is a 2010 documentary film featuring a behind-the-scenes look into the lives of teenagers exiled from their families and community by Warren Jeffs, self-proclaimed prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Sons of Perdition premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on April 24, 2010, having sold out at the box office within one hour from the time tickets went on sale.
Leena Manimekalai is an Indian filmmaker, poet and an actor. Her works include five published poetry anthologies and several films in genres, documentary, fiction and experimental poem films. She has been recognised with participation, mentions and best film awards in many international and national film festivals.
Donor Unknown is a 2010 documentary film directed by Jerry Rothwell and produced by Al Morrow and Hilary Durman. A 21st-century tale of identity and genetic inheritance, this film tells the story of a sperm donor and the children who want to meet him. It follows JoEllen Marsh as she goes in search of the sperm donor father she only knows as Donor 150.
Wojciech Kasperski is a Polish screenwriter, film director and producer. In 2006 he received the Grand Prix for The Seeds for Best Documentary at Kraków Film Festival, and went on to win several prestigious awards including Sterling Short Grand Jury Award at AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Documentary Festival. His short films won over forty awards and recognitions around the world and garnered extensive media attention and critical acclaim. Winner of Golden Laurel, Russian Film Academy Award for Best Short Documentary.
Samita Bajracharya is a Nepalese former Kumari of Patan, a living goddess worshipped by Hindus and Buddhists all over South Asia. They believe her to be a reincarnation of Durga, the Hindu goddess, and she is one of several holders of the title of Kumari. Appointed in October 2010, she lived in Lalitpur, Nepal, and as per tradition, continued in her role until first menstruated in 2014. In early 2014, upon reaching puberty, she undertook a ritual involving untying her hair and removing her third eye, after which she was no longer considered a goddess. As a Kumari, she was considered omniscient and thus not educated. She was not allowed to walk anywhere - her feet could not touch the ground. After becoming 'mortal' i.e. after her tenure as a Kumari, she was able to integrate in society, beginning school, walking and learning an instrument. By 2014 she was attending St Xavier School in Patan as a conventional 13-year-old student, allowed to mix socially with classmates with almost no trace of her former role crossing over into her post-Kumari life.
Gajalu is a Nepali movie that depicts the life of living goddess Kumari after her retirement. Shristi Shrestha plays the role of Sujata Shakya, a former Kumari. The movie is about her friendship with her six friends who happen to change her life. This movie is partly inspired by novel named Half Girlfriend by Chetan Bhagat.
Chanira Bajracharya is a former Kumari or Living Goddess of Patan in Nepal.
Night is a new-school folk band from Nepal. The band is known for using traditional Nepali instruments in its songs. It aims to reintroduce traditional instruments of Nepal to the modern generation of Nepali-speaking audiences.
Rashmila Shakya is a Nepalese writer, software engineer, and Programme Director for Child Workers in Nepal. She authored the autobiography From Goddess to Mortal: the True Life Story of a Former Royal Kumari, which documents her time as Royal Kumari of Kathmandu.
