09:00 registration 10:55 exit 11:35 dare to dream

09:00 REGISTRATION10:15 WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION10:35 IMPACT CASE STUDY - AN INSIGNIFICANT MAN10:55 EXIT11:35 DARE TO DREAM12:20 DHARAVI13:00 LUNCH14:30 WELCOME BACK14:50 PIANO FINGERS15:30 METAMORPHOSIS16:10 CORAL WOMAN16:50 CLOSING REMARKS17:00 HIGH TEA

TIMETABLEIndian Documentary Foundation122, Kartik ComplexOpp. Laxmi Industrial EstateLink Road, Andheri (West)Mumbai 400053India

indiandocumentaryfoundation.org

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HELLO &WELCOMEGood Pitch brings together documentary filmmakers with foundations, NGOs, campaigners, philanthropists, policy makers, brands and media around leading social and environmental issues – to forge coalitions and campaigns that are good for all these partners, good for the films and good for society.

Hello &Welcome

WELCOME TO GOOD PITCH INDIA

Thank you for joining us!

Margaret Mead’s famous words best describe the people who’ve gathered here. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Today, you are in the company of impassioned creative artists & media makers, community organizers & change makers, business leaders & philanthropists, educators & impact strategists, who have come together to envision and share how they can work with documentary at Good Pitch.

Good Pitch, made by Doc Society, is a global forum that brings the world’s best documentary filmmakers together with leading changemakers around urgent social and environmental issues. In India, the 3rd national (Good Pitch India) and local editions (Good Pitch Karnataka) have been led and nurtured

by the Indian Documentary Foundation (IDF) since 2014. Over the years, we have supported documentary films that have gone on to become benchmarks, inspiring real change in policies and attitudes. This year-long programme supported by The Ford Foundation remains completely free to the filmmaking teams, organizers and to the people invited here today.

The filmmakers selected for the programme this year are exceptional independent storytellers who drive home hard truths on environmental degradation, women’s education & empowerment, elderly care, the grassroots hip-hop movement, degenerative illnesses, and transgender rights. As the six filmmaking teams pitch their respective projects and visions, it gives you an opportunity to imagine how you can get involved. Perhaps you can make a connection to a strategic ally or help navigate a major institution? Maybe you see potential to join forces over a new or existing

campaign? Perhaps you could offer funding to a team or pro-bono services? Or unlock access to a critical network? The possibilities are limitless.

As your support is indispensable, so is that of our collaborators. Our deepest gratitude to Arambhan Group, Whistling Woods International, Taj President, Sun & Sand Hotel, Coolabs, Grey Group, Accord Equips, Lightcraft, Camera Corp, Spearhead Live, Pernod Ricard, Avid Learning, and Wishberry for their time, resources and generosity. We warmly acknowledge Kitu Gidwani’s support as the moderator of the event, Bina Paul for her mentorship, and all other friends and allies who have helped us reach another milestone in this mission.

With love from the Good Pitch India team

www.indiandocumentaryfoundation.org

THANKYOUEVERYONE

HOSTED BY

FRIENDS & ALLIES

WITH THECOLLABORATION OF

GLOBAL PARTNERS

Partners, Hosts,Collaborators &Friends

RULES &DECORUM

CONTENTS

• Each filmmaking team has seven minutes to pitch their project including any time they wish to use showing a trailer, clips or photographs.

• After each pitch, there will be a feedback session of up to 30 minutes, led by the moderator. Feedback is welcome from participants around the roundtable and from the floor.

• We are looking for positive feedback about the impact potential and engagement opportunities around the film and how it intersects with the work of the participants.

Rules & Decorum

• There are microphones at the front of the auditorium. If you’d like to offer support during one of the feedback sessions, come stand next to a mic so the moderator can bring you into the conversation.

• For those of a shyer persuasion, you should have received a postcard (I’m A Big Fan Of Your Work), which also lets you share your ideas with the filmmakers. Please hand over completed cards to any member of the Good Pitch team.

• Brief questions, advice, expertise and especially offers of partnership to amplify the film and outreach campaign are all warmly welcomed.

• Good Pitch is about making connections - please do follow up directly on the day with the filmmakers taking part, or enlist help from the Good Pitch team to get connected.

Time Table_______________01

Welcome to Good Pitch____02

Rules & Decorum_________07

Goals of Good Pitch_______08

Six Great Fims____________10

Coral Woman_____________12Priya ThuvasseryAnupama Mandloi

Dare To Dream____________18Ranu Ghosh

Dharavi_________________24Smriti MundhraJerry HenrySonita Gale

Exit____________________30Sumira Roy

Metamorphosis___________36Sankhajit BiswasSoumya Mukhopadhyay

Piano Fingers____________42Megha BhaduriNaomi Shah

Case Study:An Insignificant Man_______48

Good Pitch Global________60

Good Pitch Local_________62

Good Pitch India__________64

Good Pitch India Team____66

Doc Society______________72

Ford Foundation__________74

Sundance Institute________76

Good Pitch Good Results__78

3

GOALS OF GOOD PITCH

Good PitchIndia

FUELS Fuels the very best independent documentary filmmaking in the world.

FORGES Forges new partnerships between filmmakers and changemakers from across civil society.

UNLOCKSUnlocks new investment and new audiences for documentary films.

CONNECTS Connects changemakers with powerful films they can deploy in their work.

BUILDS Builds a global ‘good’ network of filmmakers and changemakers.

ENRICHESEnriches the lives of individuals, transforms communities and improves societies.

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GOALS OFGOOD PITCH

3

GOALS OF GOOD PITCH

Good PitchIndia

FUELS Fuels the very best independent documentary filmmaking in the world.

FORGES Forges new partnerships between filmmakers and changemakers from across civil society.

UNLOCKSUnlocks new investment and new audiences for documentary films.

CONNECTS Connects changemakers with powerful films they can deploy in their work.

BUILDS Builds a global ‘good’ network of filmmakers and changemakers.

ENRICHESEnriches the lives of individuals, transforms communities and improves societies.

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SIXGREATFILMS

CORAL WOMANDARE TO DREAMDHARAVIEXITMETAMORPHOSISPIANO FINGERS

SixGreat Films

CORAL WOMANPRIYA THUVASSERY

& ANUPAMA MANDLOI

Currently, she is working on a series of marine environment protection related documentary films for the Environment Ministry and marine research institutes in India.

CORAL WOMANTHE TEAM

Priya Thuvassery is an independent filmmaker and a television producer from Kerala, based in New Delhi, India. She has been directing, producing as well as editing documentary films & television

programs for New Delhi Television, Fox Traveller, National Human Rights Commission of India, Films Division of India, Public Service Broadcasting Trust.

Her works include - Khanabadosh (2009), My Sacred Glass Bowl (2013), Survey Number zero (2016) and Coral Woman (2019). Her films have been recognized with participations, mentions and best film awards in many international and national film festivals. She is also recognized as a Canon Cinema EOS Platinum Associate.

It is, in fact, her love for corals that inspired Uma Mani to learn to swim, dive & paint in her 50s.

The film witnesses Uma’s first diving experience on an Indian coast. The filmmaker and Uma travel to the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park in Tamil Nadu for this. Situated in the southeast of India, it extends from Rameswaram Island in the north to Kanyakumari in the south. It was once called the Pearl Coast of India for its rich biodiversity and pearls. But the live coral cover has been reduced to 23% in 2016 at the Gulf of Mannar due to global bleaching events and anthropogenic activities on the coast, which calls for urgent attention.

An inspiring, need of the hour tale of a homemaker and unlikely environment crusader from Tamil Nadu. Uma has been trying to draw public attention to the devastating effects of climate change on marine life and coastal communities through her paintings.

CoralWoman

IMPACT GOALS

1. Increase awareness about environmental degradation and its effect on coral bleaching.

2. Help Coastal Communities adopt environmentally friendly practices.

3. Create Youth Ambassadors who build a legacy for environment protection.

TO ACHIEVE THIS, WE WOULD LIKE TO

1. Educate the public and inspire behaviour change through creative engagement strategies (i.e. video and art installations, coral-themed festivals)

2. Develop educational materials on corals and climate change for children.

3. Reach policy makers and inspire policy change.

AT GOOD PITCH WE ARE LOOKING FOR

1. Create a Hope Spot on the Gulf of Mannar coast to protect and rehabilitate marine life.

2. Foundations/Governments/Art Festivals to showcase the Coral Woman film and coral inspired art.

3. Dub the film into Tamil and take it to communities along the coast to create a grassroots campaign.

4. Create Coral Woman website which acts as an educational site on corals and environment protection in India.

5. Enable a traveling cinema across the coastlines.

6. Educators and Non-Profits to develop a school curriculum to accompany the film.

Anupama Mandloiis a broadcast media professional with sizeable experience in television production, programming and content creation. Her specialties are channel launches, s p e a r h e a d i n g

large projects with quick turnaround, live events and reality shows, creating brands, negotiating budgets and team management. She helmed Fremantle, a television production company in India, for six years. She worked with the Girl Effect brand to build its business and creative strategy for entering India. She is currently the Creative Consultant with ZEE 5 and Zee Network. She debuted this year as an independent producer with the documentary Aunty Sudha Aunty Radha which has traveled to various film festivals internationally.

Priya Thuvassery, [email protected]

Anupama Mandloi, Impact [email protected]

NOTES

HOW CAN I HELP?CAN I GIVE PRO BONO SUPPORT?COULD I CONTRIBUTE FINANCIALLY?CAN I MAKE A STRATEGIC INTRODUCTION?COULD I HOST A SCREENING?OFFER RESEARCH?CAN I USE THE FILM AS A TRAINING TOOL?SHARE WITH COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS?CONNECT THEM TO GLOBAL NETWORKS?COULD I DRIVE DONORS TO THE CAUSE?DO I KNOW A RELEVANT POLICYMAKER?WHAT ELSE CAN I OFFER?

CoralWoman

DARE TO DREAMRANU GHOSH

Ranu Ghosh is an independent film Director-Producer-Cinematographer, who has experienced working on both celluloid and video mediums. Her recent film Quarter Number 4/11, has seen much

acclaim in many countries. She is presently working as the Director - Producer and Cinematographer of Dare to Dream, a documentary film that looks at the connection between early marriage of girls and the subsequent end of education in Rajasthan, India. The research is being supported by Filmförderung Hamburg and AJWS, USA.

She is also Joint Director / Camera Person & Location Sound of Indian Democracy, a film funded by MIT and Harvard

DARE TO DREAM

Ganeshi is a beacon for hope and change in this conservative community, as she pursues education, instead of moving into her in-law’s home and settling into domesticity.

She chooses to make her mark and assert her independence by attempting to become a government school teacher. The film follows Ganeshi for the period of five years where she must negotiate and contend with her community to pursue her dreams. As she bristles against the patriarchal pressures of her community, she inspires others around her, including her own family, to bring in change by changing themselves.

Married off at the age of 14, Ganeshi had to fight againstthe norms and practices of her community to make her dreams come true.

DareTo Dream

IMPACT GOALS

1. Promote education among adolescent girls for participation in social, economic and political life.

2. Eliminate negative cultural attitudes and practices against girls.

3. Strengthen the role of the family in improving the status of the girl child.


1. Launch a screening campaign with education and child protection NGOs.

2. Empower adolescent girls to seek education.

3. Reach village leaders who can influence communities.


1. Train Ganeshi to be a community leader.

2. NGOs and government partners to host mobile cinema and community screenings.

3. Digital partners/agencies to release the film in cuts.

4. Strategy consultants from the child education/media campaign domains.

5. Impact Producers.

Child marriage is still a common practice amongst the tribal Rebari community of Southern Rajasthan in India but there are girls like Ganeshi, and others around her who oppose such archaic practises.

University and the Associate Producer, Co-Director, and Co-Cinematographer of Like Whirlwinds, a film supported by TED and Sundance. Her other important recent works as Cinematographer are Revolutionary Optimist, Wagah, If it Rains, Who Wants to be Gurkha, Better Seeds and few others.

Ranu Ghosh, [email protected], [email protected]

NOTES


DareTo Dream

DHARAVISMRITI MUNDHRA, JERRY HENRY

& SONITA GALE

027

Sonita Gale is a film producer involved from story development and financing, through to production and sales, building successful creat ive teams along the way. Her first documentary

Andrew Carnegie: Rags to Riches, Power to Peace, premiered at the 2015 Edinburgh Film Festival and was broadcast on BBC Scotland before being sold to over 55 countries worldwide.

In addition to Dharavi, she’s working on a documentary about the women who inspired the iconic artiste, Prince, directed by Geeta Gandbhir and a film about environmentalism and artist-activism with renowned director, Ursula MacFarlane. Sonita is currently developing a TV mini-series with Brian Cox based on the life of Carnegie.

DHARAVI

But with mounting pressures at home, and the machine-like grind of daily life taking its toll, their crew has all but dismantled, with members dropping out to find steady work and others leaving out of frustration over Akku’s stubborn refusal to capitalize on their success.

Dharavi tells the story of an underrepresented community, with a desire to be heard and seen as complex humans with individual needs, as opposed to facts on a biodata or statistics. It’s a fight against low expectations and the ultimate struggle between duty and desire, told through the eyes of people who subvert expectations and preconceived notions.

Dharavi

IMPACT GOALS

1. Encourage acceptance among local communities about the potential of talent from Dharavi.

2. Bring awareness about mental health issues in Dharavi and among India’s poor.

3. Minimize the effects of gentrification and displacement in Dharavi.


1. Produce a concert or performance that raises the themes of mental health and gentrification.

2. Utilize VR technology to produce short content.

3. Expand hip-hop culture beyond Dharavi and start a dialogue between communities.


1. Concert venues to host a showcase of Dharavi’s talent.

2. Videographers to create compelling videos of Dharavi artistes.

3. Music production companies and media partners to recognize and develop talent from Dharavi.

4. Public and Private Schools in Mumbai to undertake school visits and exchanges with Dharavi.

5. NGOs and community groups interested in reaching and rehabilitating young people using hip-hop as art therapy beyond Dharavi.

6. Celebrities and influencers to bring hip-hop culture into the mainstream.

Two brothers, Akku and Vicky, create an inspiring grassroots hip-hop movement in the bylanes of Dharavi as a means to escape the grind of urban working class life.

In doing so successfully, they hope to change its perception from an industrialized and overpopulated eyesore to a hub of creative energy that is attracting tourists and artists from around the world.

Jerry Henry is a LA-based director and cinematographer whose award - winning short documentary I Promise Africa won many prestigious awards, including the Directors Guild of America Student

Award. Jerry’s visual talents can be seen in such docs as the Oscar-nominated documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop, American Revolutionary and City of Gold.

His current nine-part doc series with Academy Award-winning director Roger Ross Williams released in Fall 2019. In 2018, Def Jam Recordings sought out his talents to direct and shoot a highly stylized documentary – Stay Dangerous - in collaboration with Eagle Rock Entertainment and Def Jam Artist YG.

THE TEAM

Smriti Mundhra recently received a 2020 Academy Award nomination for her documentary short film St. Louis Superman, and was named one of DOC NYC’s 40 Under 40 Filmmakers to

Watch. Her debut feature, A Suitable Girl, premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival competition, winning the Albert Maysles Best Documentary Director prize. She is currently in production on a documentary series for Netflix.

She has written, directed and produced documentary content for BET and Al Jazeera English, to name a few, and her work has been supported by the Tribeca Film Institute, Film Independent, Women In Film, ITVS, Doc Society, the Bertha Institute and the International Documentary Association.

Jerry Henry, [email protected]

Smriti Mundhra, [email protected]

Sonita Gale, [email protected]

NOTES


Dharavi

EXITSUMIRA ROY

On his 50th wedding anniversary, 89-year-old Narayan proposesto his wife: let’s die together, now. His 80-year-old wife, Irawati, dutifully agrees.

EXIT

The film, through observations and reflections on their life, relationship and state of mind, explores what drives them to this momentous decision.

Is it loneliness? Alienation ?Is it a sense of feeling useless and disposable?Is it the fear of losing autonomy and personhood through illness?Is it the fear of who will go first?

As layers uncover the presence of anomie in a youth-fixated society where a person’s value is perceived to diminish as they age, this couple stakes their claim for the right to keep their dignity intact and choose their own ending.

Exit

IMPACT GOALS

1. Expose the loneliness faced by the elderly.

2. Dispel the misconception that a degenerating body concurrently leads to a degenerating mind.

3. Encourage elderly inclusion in mainstream society.


1. Connect the elderly to organisational initiatives that will benefit from their knowledge.

2. Document seniors’ knowledge in partnership with organisation.

3. Engage the elderly through community events and groups.

4. Launch an elderly awareness campaign.


1. Organisations to employ the elderly in programs of education, legal and other skill sets.

2. Organisations to document stories.

3. Neighbourhood and member-based associations to sponsor elderly inclusion in community events.

4. Schools and youth groups to screen the film and organise inclusive elderly based events.

Their journey begins with a petition to the President of India and the Supreme Court of India, for him and his wife’s right to die together, thus making them the world’s first couple to do so.

Sumira Roy became an Entrepreneur, Founder and Creative Head of Postscript Advertising and SOW Design after a successful and awarded career as Creative Director in O&M and JWT

advertising agencies. She has scripted, produced and directed many ad and digital films. Her love for documentaries beckoned and she entered this foray. After her 2018 film Last Days Last Shot, she is nearing completion of EXIT (working title). For her other current film Wonder Women (working title) she was awarded a grant by Literarisches Colloquium, Berlin & Robert Bosch Foundation, and is presently looking to complete it through co-production. She is writing a short dance film and researching her next documentary.

Sumira Roy, [email protected], [email protected]

NOTES


Exit

METAMORPHOSISSANKHA &

SOUMYA MUKHOPADHYAY

Sudeb 40, a transgender woman, hails from a small Indian townbordering Bangladesh. Her decision to undergo Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS, or Gender Affirmative Surgery) creates turmoil in her family.

METAMORPHOSIS

As she falls out with her long-standing partner, her resolve to go ahead with the surgery is reinforced. Following a successful SRS, she

Metamorphosis

IMPACT GOALS

1. Promote awareness and understanding of transgender individuals within society.

2. Educate transgender individuals on the physical and mental consequences of SRS.

3. Increase transgender people’s confidence and self-acceptance.


1. Host screenings and discussions with the trans community, and their family and friends.

2. Design learning tools for straight allies and students.

3. Engage progressive businesses and entrepreneurs to create employment opportunities for trans individuals.

4. Build a trans-friendly resource database for service providers and SRS help.


1. LGBTQ+ allies and organisations to:• Host screenings and workshops

around the film.• Develop a guide for allies.• Create resource tools- websites,

helplines and vlogs for individuals seeking SRS.

2. Educators and policymakers to develop student-friendly curriculums to sensitize youth around the issue.

3. Partnerships with progressive businesses who are looking to employ trans individuals.

4. Transgender influencers who can raise the profile of the cause.

expects people’s perception of her to change. However, Sudeb’s brother refuses to get married, revealing a deep-rooted anxiety about her gender identity. Boyfriends come and go with seasons. She realizes that her fate as a transwoman hasn’t changed with her transformed body. It forces her to reconcile with the reality once again.

The film deals with the personal, psychological and social vulnerability experienced by transgender individuals, particularly people undergoing transition. The gravity of the decision to go through SRS and the lack of support, both pre and post transition are explored in this film.

Sankhajit Biswas, [email protected]

Soumya Mukhopadhyay, [email protected]

Netherlands) and NDTV 24X7 (India). It won the Best Documentary Award in Kolkata International Film Festival 2014.

THE TEAM

Sankhajit Biswas studied edit ing from Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Kolkata from 2002 - 2005 and has participated in the Berlin Talent Campus 2010. He has been a prolific

editor since then, editing many national and international award winning films - both fiction and documentaries.

He made his directorial debut with a documentary Dui Dhuranir Golpo (In-between Days, 2012) based on the transgender community in Kolkata. It was screened in many film festivals including CPH:Dox Copenhagen, Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, DocPoint Helsinki and broadcast on RAI (Italy), YLE (Finland), VPRO (The

In 2012, Soumya Mukhopadhyay a long with his partner founded Cherrypix Movies, a boutique digital cinema production/ post production company based in Kolkata, India.

Within a few years Cherrypix has established itself as one of the most sought after boutique, one stop shop for fiction and nonfiction films in Eastern India. A lifelong cineaste, Soumya would like to be known as a curator of images and sound, visualizer of space and time and narrator of stories.

NOTES


Metamorphosis

PIANO FINGERSMEGHA BHADURI & NAOMI SHAH

When Megha loses her father to Huntington’sdisease - a fatal neurodegenerative disorder - she arms herself with a camera to understand what took him.

PIANO FINGERS

As Megha and her family reflect on the insidious and progressive changes that the disease brought to her father, she also has to confront a daunting fact: Because Huntington’s is an

Piano Fingers

IMPACT GOALS

1. Bridging the awareness gap about genetic diseases between patients, caregivers and medical stakeholders.

2. Normalisation of genetic diseases and living life with dignity.

3. Defining genetic discrimination.

4. Advocating for a better medical framework of patient support for all genetic diseases.


1. Design educational resources for schools, doctors, and families.

2. Strengthen the patient support framework for genetic diseases.

3. Advocate for the rights of those who face genetic discrimination.


1. Doctors and medical schools to screen the film and use it as a tool for ethical debate; create curriculum around it.

2. Support groups and NGOs to create learning tools for genetic disease patients and families.

3. Policymakers, progressive insurance companies, and medical professionals who can advocate for the rights of patients.

4. Lawyers and legal experts to counsel those who face genetic discrimination.

inherited family disease, she has a high chance of inheriting the faulty gene herself.

The film chronicles the ambition and struggle of a young filmmaker whose worldview sees a colossal shift after getting tested for the disease. Documenting the tug of war between fighting a malady that threatens to consume her while trying to live her best life, Megha crafts an experience that is relatable to many. Piano Fingers reveals the most intimate and honest moments of Megha’s family who live each day battling an insurmountable beast. This is the story of a family that, with great heart and acceptance, stand tall against a disease that society cannot yet see.

Megha Bhaduri, [email protected]

Naomi Shah, Impact [email protected]

Naomi Shah’s work lies at the intersection of non-fiction storytelling and design. She began her journey into non-fiction film as a student of Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology,

working on environmental films with a sharp focus on community upliftment and policymaking.. Her first documentary film Alpajeevi toured extensively at international film festivals and also won the Best International Film award at the Nordic Youth Film Festival. She then went ahead to work on the award-winning non-fiction political feature An Insignificant Man as an Associate Producer and then dabbled in VR filmmaking under the banner of ElseVR. She is currently the Impact Producer on the film ‘Piano Fingers’, a film about Huntington’s disease

THE TEAM

Megha Bhaduri is the director and protagonist of the film on Huntington’s Disease. Megha is a Screenwriter, Director and a Documentary filmmaker with a focus on storytelling through advocacy

and untold stories. She completed her undergraduate degree in film from Srishti Institute of Art, Design, and Technology, Bangalore in 2015 and her master’s degree in film and television at Savannah College of Art and Design in 2019. Megha has worked on multiple projects across the agency of filmmaking in the last four years. A personal story of catharsis and hope, Megha hopes to be the voice for her family and many families that live with rare diseases who are unable to speak and come out of the shadows.

NOTES


Piano Fingers

CASESTUDY

48 49Good Pitch INDIA 2020

Good Pitch INDIA 2020

CaseStudy

AN INSIGNIFICANT MANKHUSHBOO RANKA

VINAY SHUKLA

Facebookfacebook.com/aimthemovieInstagraminstagram.com/aimthemovieTwittertwitter.com/aimthemovie

Adapted from the Hi5 Doc Impact report

An Insignificant Man chronicles a most outrageous political debut in the largest democracy of the world. Set against the backdrop of anti-corruption protests throughout India in 2012, a new political party emerges: the Aam Aadmi Party i.e. the Common Man’s party (also referred to as the “AAP”). At the helm is Arvind Kejriwal, one of the most polarising men in India today. The film follows their entry onto the scene as they shake up Indian politics and graft against the country’s oldest and most powerful two political establishments, wielding basic public issues like water and electricity.

As Kejriwal rails against traditional power holders in the government and calls for greater transparency, he also arms every day working class people with the information they need to make informed governance decisions. So the filmmakers investigate his claims and go behind the scenes to understand what transparency and participatory democracy could look like up close.

The result is a film that transports audiences smack dab in the middle of party offices, daily meetings, heated arguments, inside jokes, campaign strategies and the true events and ideologies that inform rhetoric in public space.

It follows activists, politicians, and academics on their best days and their worst, as they navigate the absurdities, trials, and chaos of Indian politics; and as they reveal their agendas, intentions and ambitions. It gives an insider’s view into Kejriwal’s brand of politics, which has split popular opinion into two prominent factions. One labels it selfish and anarchic, while the other insists on seeing it as a major shift in the Indian political paradigm.

Capturing moments of triumph and despair, An Insignificant Man is a moving cinematic journey from the narrow lanes of Delhi’s slums to the closed corridors of political power.

THE TEAM

Khushboo Ranka Director/ Producer/ Cinematographer

Vinay Shukla Director/ Producer/Cinematographer

Naomi ShahImpact Producer

FABULOUS FACTS• 35+: The number of countries in which An Insignificant Man has been screened

• 8 weeks: Run time in 53 theatres in India – remarkable for any documentary

• 2 million: Online views on Youtube; most watched political documentary in India

• 55: Number of film festivals at which An Insignificant Man has participated

• 50,000+: Social media fans and following

THE CHALLENGESAn Insignificant Man emerged in a context that is generally unfriendly to documentaries. So, directors Khushboo Ranka and Vinay Shukla knew they would face censorship challenges when they set out to make this film.

India’s Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) denied their application to release the film to the public. Before it could be released, they required that the film remove all references to the two biggest political parties of India and receive written consent from politicians to allow usage of their public speeches.

The director duo appealed to the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT), and then fought two more individual litigations in the Supreme Court. They won, and the film was cleared for release. Two years after the film’s international film festival release and a year after the ban, the film was finally released in India in November 2017.

With grit and a creative spirit the team worked hard to make the documentary widely accessible and get it to the people

so it could pull back the curtains on the Indian political process and broaden political debate in the country about the issues that erode democracy.

It was important to get people to see this film to meet its two main objectives. The first was to humanise the struggle of an emerging political party by pushing back against cynicism and inspiring transparency and accountability; and the second was to galvanize public participation in civil society, especially among the country’s youth.

Finding theatrical distributors and disseminating the film were the next big challenges. The team devised a number of strategies to make up for their limited manpower and budget.

An Insignificant Man

AWARDSBest Documentary prize Warsaw Film Festival 2016Best Documentary prize NYIFF 2017Best Documentary prize IFFLA 2017Best Documentary prize Brooklyn Film Festival 2017

STRATEGIESBUILDING COMMUNITIESTo create a network of supporters and solidarity around the film, the filmmakers took a collective approach. They reached out to young filmmakers by involving them in the filmmaking process and worked as a team. SUCCESSFUL CROWDFUNDINGBecause there was no crowdfunding platform available in India (Kickstarter was not an option because it requires a U.S. bank account) they built their own crowdfunding platform! They ended up raising $120,000 - six times their campaign goal. COMMUNITY OF CO-OWNERS/ GUARDIANS OF THE FILMThe team cultivated the film’s 782 backers into “guardians of the film.” They did this by continuously engaging them through social media and building the community’s goodwill and trust by modeling the transparency they were advocating for in the film and treating them as co-owners.

BUILDING INTERNATIONAL SUPPORTThe team used the international film festival circuit and forged strategic partnerships with Doc Society, Sundance, and the International Documentary Association (IDA). These relationships secured their integrity as filmmakers. ENGAGING INDIAN INFLUENCERS AT AN EARLY STAGEThey conducted several community screenings and many secret screenings for policy influencers outside the government (senior lawyers, former court judges, etc.) and various organisations affiliated with issues in the film. SECURED SUPPORT FOR A LEGAL STRATEGYThey worked extensively with lawyers recommended by Doc Society before the film’s release to protect themselves from legal challenges. They went through a rigorous fact check of the film to identify any potential scenes that could be used in defamation suits. However, by galvanising public opinion and winning cases, they also set a legal precedent.

CAREFUL MESSAGING AROUND THE FILMThe filmmakers and lawyers used language that was as banal as possible. For example, they never called their film a “documentary”, but used a more neutral term, “non-fiction political thriller”. They also avoided contentious terms like “freedom of expression” and spoke of constitutional provisions or their lack thereof instead. BYPASSING TRADITIONAL DISTRIBUTORSWith mainstream distribution channels shying away, the filmmakers turned to the unusual model of cinema-on-demand through the platform, Vkaao. They turned to their highly-engaged community on social media for support and had sold out shows. GALVANIZING BACKERS WITH ADDITIONAL CONTENT FOR ENHANCED LOYALTYThey supplied the core engaged community with additional resources, including funny memes, and extra video content to break down complex ideas. They also engaged major

celebrity influencers in their community on social media, from stand-up comedians to young film personalities in Bollywood and beyond by getting them to watch and endorse the film. DELIBERATELY ITERATIVE RELEASE STRATEGYWith a view to maximising the momentum generated by the press around the court cases, the filmmakers set out to release the film urgently. They signed up their global and online streaming rights to Vice Media to immediately release the film for free on YouTube. And they did so while it was still in theatres. The international run of the film at various film festivals, the court cases, and the successful theatrical run had generated a tremendous amount of buzz and curiosity around the film.


CONCLUSIONThis film and campaign is a reminder that sometimes, and in some contexts, simply getting a film made and seen is in-and-of-itself a powerful and space-making impact. Ranka and Shukla spent four years making An Insignificant Man and then another two years in film festivals, the final year of which they worked through the legal case to get the film released in India. But this team went even further than that. As a result of the supreme efforts of these two brave, fledgling filmmakers, the film ended up playing a very significant role in empowering documentary filmmakers into the future.

TRACKING IMPACT • Collected audience surveys at screenings• Collected anecdotes about audience reactions through

Facebook and the screening hosts’ videos• Tracked and collected press coverage about the film that

discussed the issues• Observed audience engagement at events post-screenings• Collected quotes/anecdotes from their backers about

the film’s impact• Tracked the emergence of new political films reportedly

inspired by the film

An evaluation plan helps an impact team determine the extent to which objectives were achieved through the course of a campaign. Here’s how the An Insignificant Man team, assessed impact:

Changing Structures- They know they successfully used the Supreme Court case to counteract censorship and carve out more space for future political filmmakers because:

• They won the court case and set a new legal precedent in the country for political documentaries!

• The Chair of the censorship board was sacked by the government under pressure from the filmmaking community and the audiences at large.

Changing Minds- They know they deepened popular understanding of Indian political-electoral processes and counteracted cynicism about democracy because they:

• Successfully got the film into theatres and won wide viewership (highest theatrical sales for a doc) and 2 million view on YouTube, ensuring audiences had a chance to see it and learn more

• Secured new press and observed (informally) that press coverage about the film largely discussed political repression and related issues.

• Received testimonials from influencers articulating the importance of the film/issues covered.

• Noted (informally) that audiences at events were deeply engaged in discussion of the issues.

Changing Behaviors- They know they galvanized public debate, and participation in democracy and civil society because they:

• Noted that 81% of audiences intended to exercise their right to vote in upcoming elections.

• INDIRECTLY: New political documentaries have emerged since their campaign.

IMPACTAn Insignificant Man can be counted among the most impactful documentaries to have come out of India. Some of them can be listed as under: THE MOST WATCHED DOCUMENTARY IN INDIAAn Insignificant Man went on to become a box office hit, had a national theatrical run for 8 weeks – a record for a documentary, was the longest running documentary in India, had over a 100 non-theatrical community screenings. It also has 2 million plus views of the film on You Tube, and counting, where the film was made freely available by Vice Media. MORE INFORMED AUDIENCESA qualitative survey of a random selection of audiences during the theatrical release (sample size: 1,237) affirmed that the film was helping to educate audiences. Almost three quarters (72%) of those surveyed reported that they felt they knew more about Indian politics after watching the film than they had before, and many returned to watch it again with their families. The phenomenal number of online views (2 million+) also affirmed the level of audience interest.

SPARKED DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY ONLINE AND AT SCREENINGSWith robust press coverage in India and online engagement, the filmmakers could gauge and maintain the interest of the people in the film. It also lead to real life discussions at screenings among people about Kejriwal himself, about democracy, about what kinds of films eventually get released to the public in India, and about the structural barriers documentaries face in the country. SPURRED PROTEST AT AWARDS DELIBERATIONSIn fact, during national awards deliberations in May 2018, the film again caused a stir when An Insignificant Man was suspiciously dropped from the list of winners at the last moment. With at least four of the seven-member jury wanting the film to be recognized but at a stand-still, the jury finally decided not to present “best film in non-feature” category at all that year.


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WHOLE FOODS WIEDEN+KENNEDY WILLIAM JAMES FOUNDATION WITNESS WOMEN 2.0 WOMEN DONORS NETWORK WOMEN MAKE MOVIES WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER WOMEN’S REFUGEE COMMISSION WOMENARTS WORLD CHESS HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM WORLD DEVELOPMENT MOVEMENT WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM WORLD ORGANIZATION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS USA WORLD WILDLIFE FUND YOUGOV YOUTH RADIO YOUTUBE ZANGZING, LLC ZDF ZERO DIVIDE

GOOD PITCH PARTICIPANTSMore than 2000 organisations, from 30 countries, representing all areas of civil society, have attended a Good Pitch since 2008.

Good PitchIndia

Good PitchIndia

Participants

PARTICIPATINGORGANISATIONSParticipants at Good Pitch are leading changemakers from every sector of civil society: foundations, NGOs, campaigners, philanthropists, policymakers, brands and media.

They bring to the table expert knowledge, access to memberships and mailing lists, campaigning and lobbying expertise, connections to policymakers or corporate leaders, and new sources of funding.

$30 MILLION+HAS BEEN RAISED OVER 10 YEARS

ORGANISATIONS HAVE PARTICIPATED

4200+ACTIVE CAMPAIGNPARTNERSHIPS

1600+

PROJECTS HAVEBEEN PRESENTED

250+PROGRAMMESSINCE 2008

40+

GOOD PITCH GLOBAL

To find out more about how to get involved or get invited, go to goodpitch.org

KENYA

MENA REGION

EUROPE

SOUTHEAST ASIA

PASIFIKAAUSTRALIA

COLOMBIA

BRAZIL

CANADA

GP USA

MEXICO INDIASINCE 2008 THERE HAVE BEEN 44 EDITIONS OF THE GOOD PITCH PROGRAMME IN 15 COUNTRIES

With increasing demand from cultural partners around the world, Doc Society is busy sharing the Good Pitch programme & supporting regional hosts to organise their own Good Pitch events and Impact Labs.

Good Pitch Global

GOOD PITCH LOCALLocations:

DALLAS & AUSTIN COLUMBIA DETROIT DURHAM HONOLULU KARNATAKA MIAMI PHILADELPHIA and more to follow in 2020!

Good Pitch Local

063Good Pitch INDIA 2020

Good Pitch Karnataka Good Pitch Karnataka

GOOD PITCHINDIA

HOSTS

Indian Documentary Foundation hosts the third edition of Good Pitch India, we take a moment to mark another remarkable landmark in our journey as an organisation. The Indian Documentary Foundation was founded in 2009 by Sophy VSivaraman and Jaaved Jaffery “for the impact of nonfiction films & media in India and about India.” Placing their faith (and their bets!) in a sector that had precious little attention, the founders resolved to help amplify the power of documentary.

With committed teams and strategic partners like Doc Society, Sundance Institute, Ford Foundation, The Indian Documentary Foundation has become a versatile non-profit organisation, which has significantly changed the Indian documentary film sector, and how it is perceived.

In its nine eventful years, the Indian Documentary Foundation has worked with a remarkable number of filmmakers and films that have had strong social

impact. Driving With Selvi – a Good Pitch India film – is one great example of how a powerful story changed not just the protagonist’s socioeconomic life, but also empowered a whole section of disenfranchised women.

Selvi’s success story – a case of small steps, big impact brings us to the point of Good Pitch Local. In 2019, Indian Documentary Foundation also hosted a regional version of a Good Pitch event in Bangalore called Good Pitch Karnataka. This forum focussed on local films, and media campaigns about local issues. With a more hands-on, intensive and grassroots approach, Good Pitch Karnataka selected 15 projects, and roped in an impressive 198 organisations. It was very well received, and Indian Documentary Foundation is gearing up to collaborate on its next Good Pitch Local event later this year. Expect to see exciting media projects from Good Pitch Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh at Good Pitch Deccan.

Indian Documentary Foundation has also been involved with the Sankalp Awards, an initiative that “supports, honours, and brings together promising enterprises tackling some of the World’s key development challenges”, in the capacity of documentary media mentors. We have also lent our voices in support for the LGBTQIA+ community, when we helped produce a podcast series called ‘Why Hate Love’ with support of the Canadian Consulate.

Going forward, Indian Documentary Foundation intends to work with more films and filmmakers that address such important issues like Gender and Climate Change and continue to make a positive change in society. We thank you for being our partners in making a difference.

www.indiandocumentaryfoundation.org

Hosts

GOOD PITCH INDIA TEAM

Good PitchIndia Team

JAAVED JAAFERICo - Founder

Jaaved Jaaferi is an Indian actor, voice actor, dancer, comedian and impressionist known for his work in several Bollywood films and Indian television shows. Apart from his association with India’s substantial and significant film industry, he gained approval for his performance in a Maggi tomato ketchup advertisement aired in the 1990s. He is a noted impressionist, famous for his role in Bombay Boys, starring in its hit song I am Mumbhai. He is well-known for his portrayals of Mumbai hoodlums referred to as taporis within Mumbai and the state of Maharashtra. He hosted and produced the highly-popular dance show called Boogie Woogie on Sony Entertainment Television, and dubbed commentary to the famous Japanese television show Takeshi’s Castle on Pogo TV. He is also a proponent of documentary filmmaking, being the co - founder of the Indian Documentary Foundation.

SONIA PAREKHImpact Director

Sonia is a creative professional working to bring people together to catalyze positive change on global, local, and individual levels. She is a believer in showing up wherever she hears a call to facilitate change. This core philosophy has led her to work across sectors (and the globe) in a myriad of interconnected job roles. Her experience and interests range widely from the corporate world to startups to social work. She has 7+ years of experience in event/project management and co-founded two non profits that work to inspire human connection.

SOPHY VSIVARAMANCo - Founder and CEO

Sophy is the co-founder and chief executive of the Indian Documentary Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that was founded with the aim to promote, and develop documentaries in India and about India. She strategizes impact campaigns for documentary filmmakers, and helps raise funding for outreach activities. She also collaborates on CSR-led training workshops for social entrepreneurs and curates programs for film festivals. Sophy has successfully led the Good Pitch global program and the Good Pitch Local program in India; where for the first time, Good Pitch Local has taken place outside USA. Under her leadership, the Indian Documentary Foundation is hosting the third Good Pitch India program in 2020.

RICHA VASHISTA Impact Director

Richa Vashista (she/her) is one of the Impact Directors for Good Pitch India. As a queer mental health professional, she has worked in the intersections of gender and sexuality since 2014. She speaks at various national and international forums, advocating about the importance of mental health, LGBTQIA+ rights and gender equality. She has worked with The Humsafar Trust (HST) for 4+ years as a Clinic and Counseling Head and Research. In 2016, she co-authored a manual- Strengthening Bridges, on how to support parents of LGBTQIA+. She has taken her learning’s from writing this manual to other health care professionals, colleges, companies and organisations, through training and workshops.

ANITA ANANDProduction Head

Anita was the co-owner, head of production and business management for the company, MAD Entertainment Ltd., for 15 years. Under their banner, they have produced over 1500 commercials for leading advertising agencies and stalwart brands. Subsequently, she has been Executive Producer on four feature films. She has controlled budgets, overseen timelines, and ensured artistic and technical integrity on all projects, while managing overseas and local schedules, liaising with foreign production houses and artists when required. She says, Good Pitch has been an excellent introduction to event management.

SHRUTI SENGUPTAProject Manager

Shruti wishes she was a filmmaker by profession but in reality she is a filmmaker by occasion. Her short documentary Six Sacred Days is a happy tale of sex workers of Sonagachi fighting for their right to hold their own Durga festival. She writes, assists, and directs whenever providence has her in sight. On other occasions, she retreats to the shell she came from and binges on Asian TV shows and Anime. As the Project Manager, she brings in her mad ninja skills honed at Good Pitch India 2018 and Good Pitch Local Karnataka 2019.

AMIT ANANDProduction Executive

Amit is a production enthusiast, avid adventurer and risk-taker. He has worked for the production of short films and ads. He always looks further to develop his skills in this field and provide the right fit for production needs. A former banker, who followed his passion to learn, live and grow, Amit loves to travel and build connections through diversity. He finds music and food as the essence of life. Currently, Amit is the Production Executive for Good Pitch India 2020.

URMI CHANDAMedia Outreach Associate

As a Culturalist, Urmi engages with the domain of culture in various ways. She writes independently about the performing and fine arts, museums, literature, mythology and religion for various Indian publications. She is also a Professional Doctorate candidate of Interfaith Studies at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. Previously, she has worked as an advertising professional, a journalist and a museum professional among other things in her 12+ years of industry experience. She is gradually moving towards the developmental sector and wants to work in the area of interreligious peace. At Good Pitch India, she is a Media Outreach Associate.

VISHANTH KUMARTechnical Associate

A chef and a sustainable farmer, Vishanth has done his MSc in Sustainable Development and has a keen interest in issues regarding the food system. He was involved in various grass roots movements like ‘Slow Food’ and various other farmers’ movements. Over the last few years he has started ‘Kikui Farms’ - an organic and sustainable vegetable and dairy farm.He has worked for Good Pitch India in 2014 and 2018, and for Good Pitch Local Karnataka 2019. He returns as the Floor Director for the 2020 edition

DEVIKA SAKHADEOProject Assistant

Currently, the Project Assistant for Good Pitch India 2020, Devika is a gold medallist in Masters in Media and Communication Studies from Pune University. She has worked on research dissertations specifically on understanding the evolution of documentary as a genre in the space of online streaming platforms. She also has been working as a citizen journalist for Global Voices for the past three years. Devika looks forward to working at studios and online streaming platforms to give voice to underrepresented work through factual programming.

Kitu (Kaushalya) Gidwani is an actress from Mumbai. Born of refugee parents from Sindh, she has grown up in South Bombay as it was called, and started acting in experimental plays from her first year of college. She is a natural and self-taught actress and was one of India’s supermodels from the mid-eighties to the mid-nineties.

She has worked with some of the biggest names in theatre like Naseeruddin Shah, Lilette Dubey, Danish Husain and Anahita Uberoi. She has also worked with the Kali Theatre group in London in 2004. While theatre remains her first passion, she has done nationally popular television series like Swabhimaan, Junoon and Trishna.

Her filmography includes Deham and Drohkaal with Govind Nihalani, Fashion with Madhur Bhandarkar, Traffic with Rajesh Pillai, Earth 1947 with Deepa Mehta and Dance Of The Wind with Rajan Khosa. In 1997 she won the award for Best Actress at the Festival of Three Continents in Nantes, France, for her portrayal of a troubled Indian classical singer in Dance of the Wind.

She is a committed activist for animal rights and welfare, and is an accomplished Argentinian tango dancer. Kitu is very proud to be “Indic”; and feels that Indic wisdom has yet a lot to teach the world.

“Stories are our most significant currency – We live in, trade in and grow in stories. Narratives of power, politics, religion, caste, class, race, gender, nationality, sexuality and a hundred other things are crafted through stories. It is through stories that we build our prisons and earn our salvations. Stories, then, may be called the building blocks of our very existence. The Good Pitch forum is meant to use creative stories to make the world a better place, and could there be a nobler idea? The third Indian edition of this event is remarkable in its representation of the diverse faces of the human condition. Through stories about surmounting personal, physical, social, cultural and even global odds, the six chosen documentaries speak about resilience and hope that is larger than life. As you, and I witness these stories, their protagonists and the storytellers, let’s do our bit to pay this currency forward with the passion and compassion.”

Moderator, Good Pitch India

KITU GIDWANI


THE GOOD PITCH FORUM IS MEANT TO USE CREATIVE STORIES TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE, AND COULD THERE BE A NOBLER IDEA?

Good PitchIndia Team

ISABEL SHAPIROGood Pitch Global & Impact Labs Producer

As Good Pitch Producer Isabel plans and delivers Doc Society’s Flagship Good Pitch events in Europe and the US. She also works across the Good Pitch2 Global Program supporting current and potential Good Pitch2 teams. Before joining the foundation Isabel worked at the British Film Institute , the London film festival and as a researcher for documentary company GA&A Productions in Rome. Isabel completed her Masters at Cambridge University in 2012 with a thesis on performance and ethics in contemporary British documentary.

Doc Society is a non-profit founded in 2005 committed to enabling great documentary films and connecting them to audiences globally.

Based in London and New York, Doc Society works with filmmakers and partners all over the world. Doc Society’s mission is to bring people together to unleash the transformational power of documentary film standing in solidarity with filmmakers and work to unite them with new friends and allies, building new models globally.

For over 10 years, the global Good Pitch program has developed the very best Documentary Projects, connecting them to leading changemakers around urgent social issues to forge new coalitions that are good for the films and good for society. Good Pitch was devised by Doc Society (formerly BRITDOC) in 2007 in partnership with the Sundance Institute and the Ford Foundation. Flagship editions in Europe and North America are run from Doc Society’s London, Amsterdam, and New York offices by an in-house team. Global editions are supported by Doc Society over a period of mentoring with host partners across the world.

DOC SOCIETY

BEADIE FINZIDirector

Having worked in documentary for the past 20 years, Beadie is in heaven in her role at Doc Society – befriending independent filmmakers globally, funding great films, brokering new partnerships and sharing knowledge.

In addition to executive producing a number of films, Beadie is responsible for the global Good Pitch programme and helping develop tools for the field such as the Impact Field Guide and the Doc Impact Award.

Beadie is also an experienced filmmaker. Titles include Only When I Dance, released theatrically in the UK and US. She produced Unknown White Male in 2005, which played at Sundance Film Festival and was Oscar shortlisted.

JESS SEARCH Chief Executive

Jess is the Chief Executive of Doc Society. Before that, she was a Commissioning Editor at Channel 4 and a founder of Shooting People, the online filmmaker’s network. She is also a board member of the UK think tank IPPR and has an MBA from Cass Business School. Jess likes to moderate for IDFA, the Skoll World Forum, the Trust Women conference and Doc Society’s Good Pitch.

NICOLE VAN SCHAIKDirector of Development

Nicole strategises with filmmakers and impact producers on how they can use their films as a strategic tool for social or environmental change. She also brokers new and exciting partnerships with organisations from across civil society, including: foundations, philanthropists, NGOs, brands, policymakers, activists, technology innovators, and media for the global Good Pitch programme, and Doc Society as a whole. She is proud to be part of the 2017 Rockwood JustFilms Fellowship. Before joining the foundation, Nicole worked as a television journalist for broadcasters, including RTL News and Al Jazeera. She finished her MA in International Journalism in Cardiff in 2008, and has previously lived in The Netherlands, USA, South Africa, and Wales.

MALINDA WINKGlobal Director of Good Pitch

Malinda was Executive Director of Good Pitch Australia and Shark Island Institute from 2013-2019. She is currently the Deputy Chair of The Caledonia Foundation and Board of The Reichstein Foundation.

Her professional experience spans senior roles within the corporate, political, philanthropic and NGO sectors. She has advised on business and strategic planning for a number of production and distribution companies like Madman, Hopscotch, Transmission, and Revlover. She served as a mentor for Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, GP South-East Asia, GP Miami, GP Colombia, Dokumenter Yogyakarta; impact consultant at the International Documentary Film Festival, Amsterdam (IDFA); jury of Festival International du Film documentaire Océanien (FIFO), Hawaiian International Film Festival, Antenna and Environment Film Festivals, and a number of advisory boards.

Malinda is Executive Producer of a number of projects including The Final Quarter and 2040: The Regeneration. She is one of the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence. In 2018 Malinda delivered a TEDx talk on how social impact documentary and campaigns can strengthen democracy.

Doc Society

FORD FOUNDATION

Our goals for more than half a century have been to:

• Strengthen democratic values

• Reduce poverty and injustice

• Promote international cooperation

• Advance human achievement

We believe all people should have the opportunity to reach their full potential, contribute to society, and have a voice in the decisions that affect them. We believe the best way to achieve these goals is to encourage initiatives by those living and working closest to where problems

The Ford Foundation supports visionary leaders and organisations on the frontlines of social change worldwide.

www.fordfoundation.org

are located; to promote collaboration among the nonprofit, government and business sectors; and to ensure participation by men and women from diverse communities and all levels of society. In our experience, such activities help build common understanding, enhance excellence, enable people to improve their lives and reinforce their commitment to society.

We work mainly by making grants or loans that build knowledge and strengthen organisations and networks. Since our financial resources are modest compared with societal needs, we focus on key problem areas and

programme strategies. Created with gifts and bequests by Edsel and Henry Ford, the foundation is an independent, nonprofit, nongovernmental organisation, with its own board, and is entirely separate from the Ford Motor Company. The trustees of the foundation set policy and delegate authority to the president

and senior staff for the foundation’s grant making and operations. Programme officers in the United States, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America explore opportunities to pursue the foundation’s goals, formulate strategies and recommend proposals for funding.

FORD FOUNDATION JUSTICE FILMS INITIATIVEFord Foundation has been instrumental in the development of the flagship Good Pitch events as well as the expansion of the global program, Good Pitch2

CARA MERTESDirector, JustFilms

Cara Mertes is director of Ford Foundation’s JustFilms initiative, a global social justice effort that supports emerging and established film and digital artists whose work addresses the most pressing issues of our time. JustFilms also supports key organisations that explore and sustain the art of contemporary issue film and digital storytelling. The initiative seeks to expand networks and resources for the community of independent makers around the world, to increase their artistry and to maximize the impact of their stories. Throughout her two-decade career, Cara has championed the artist’s role in society and harnessed the power of independent filmmaking and experimental media to raise awareness of critical issues. Before joining the foundation in 2013, she was director of the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program and Fund for eight years. In that role, she expanded the annual portfolio of activities to include funding, labs and global partnerships, including over $2 million awarded annually to dozens of social issue films. She expanded Documentary Lab opportunities to serve more than 100 Sundance grantees each year, and was instrumental in creating a suite of international creative partnerships to increase impact and resources for the field, including the Skoll Foundation

PRADEEP NAIRRegional Director, Ford Foundation

Pradeep is the Regional Director for Ford Foundation. He spent the first part of his career in technology in the Silicon Valley before transitioning to the social sector, working with the Clinton Foundation, Bloomberg and Paul Volcker among others. He is passionate about converging private capital and philanthropic money to sustainably solve real problems.

“Stories of Change” partnership, the TED Prize Filmmaker Award, and as co-founder of Doc Society’s Good Pitch initiative. Cara has accepted the ACLU Freedom of Expression Award and the International Documentary Association’s Pioneer Award for the Documentary Film Program’s efforts. Earlier, Cara was executive producer of the PBS POV documentary series. She also served as executive director of American Documentary Inc, produced and directed for PBS, curated Independent Focus for WNET/New York, and has taught and written about independent documentary and social change.

12 years after its launch, Good Pitch has become a shining model of catalytic change, showcasing not just documentary, but what documentary can do in the world. A response to the 21st century realities we face, Good Pitch emboldens film, filmmakers and their stories in their power to create a haven and a beacon for dignity, justice and community.”Cara Mertes, Ford Foundation

Ford Foundation

SUNDANCEINSTITUTE

Through its programs, the Institute seeks to discover, support, and inspire independent film, media, and theatre artists from the United States and around the world, and to introduce audiences to their new work.

We believe that a story driven by an individual, authentic voice can awaken new ideas that have the power to delight and entertain, push creative boundaries, spark new levels of empathy and understanding, and even lead to social change. We support independent storytellers and advance the impact of their work in the world.

The Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program supports nonfiction

Sundance Institute is a nonprofit organisation dedicated to the discovery and development of independent artists and audiences.

www.sundance.org/documentary

filmmakers worldwide in the production of cinematic documentaries on contemporary themes. Established in 2002 with founding support from Open Society Foundations, the programme is a vibrant global resource for independent nonfiction storytelling. Recent projects include Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Look of Silence; Laura Poitras’s CitizenFour; Feras Fayyad’s Last Men In Aleppo; RaMell Ross’s Hale County This Morning, This Evening; Kirsten Johnson’s Cameraperson; Yance Ford’s Strong Island; and Raoul Peck’s I Am Not Your Negro.

Led by Tabitha Jackson, the Documentary Film Program believes that art changes

the way we reach people. We focus on the values of art, reach, and change by encouraging excellence and experimentation in form, championing underrepresented voices, facilitating the strategic distribution of grantee projects where needed, and supporting the social and creative impact of the work upon release.

In summary, the year-round support of filmmakers

through the granting fund, the labs, a fellows program, and strategic advice from development to distribution amounts to a commitment to documentary as an increasingly important global art form and a critical cultural practice in the 21st century.

SUNDANCE INSTITUTEDOCUMENTARY FILM PROGRAMGood Pitch was conceived by Doc Society and Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program

TABITHA JACKSONDirector, Documentary Film Program

Tabitha Jackson – an award-winning commissioning editor, director, producer and writer – who believes passionately in the arts as a public good, is the Director of the Sundance Film Festival. With more than 25 years of experience in the field of arts and nonfiction film, she has previously served as the Director of the Documentary Film Program at the Sundance Institute, as well as head of Arts and Performance at Channel 4 Television in London before joining the Sundance team.

In 2013, Jackson was appointed Director of the Documentary Film Program at Sundance Institute with a mission to champion the power of artful nonfiction cinema in the culture and to support a more expansive set of makers and forms. In supporting such work, she and her team encouraged the diverse exchange of ideas by artists as a critical pathway to developing an open society. Also while in the role, she

launched and led a new pillar of work at the Institute - Impact, Engagement and Advocacy – with the goal of reasserting the role of the independent artist as a dynamic progressive cultural force.

Prior to joining the Sundance Institute, Jackson worked at Channel 4 to support independent and alternative voices and find fresh and innovative ways of storytelling. She executive produced a number of projects for the UK’s Film 4 including Bart Layton’s The Imposter, Mark Cousins’ The Story of Film, Clio Barnard’s The Arbor, Sophie Fiennes’ The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology, and Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollards’ 20,000 Days on Earth. Jackson was drawn to these filmmakers, along with many others, because of their use of innovative cinematic storytelling to challenge accepted orthodoxies, and, as a result, revealing a little more of the human condition.

Sundance Institute

078 Good Pitch INDIA 2020


GOOD PITCH GOOD RESULTS

Good PitchGood Results


NEW FUNDS RA ISEDGOOD PITCH GLOBAL

44 EVENTS IN 15 COUNTRIESOVER 500 FILMMAKERS HAVE GONE THROUGH THE PROGRAMME

NEW FUNDS RAISEDOVER THE LAST DECADE GOOD PITCH EVENTS ACROSS THE WORLD HAVE RAISED $33 MILLION IN FUNDS FOR PARTICIPATING FILMMAKERS

HOW DOES THE GOOD PITCH PROGRAMME DELIVER?


49% OF FUNDING RAISED HAS HELPED THE COMPLETION OF FILMS 51% OF FUNDING RAISED HAS CONTRIBUTED TO IMPACT CAMPAIGNS

PARTNERSHIPS FORGEDOVER 5000 ORGANISATION HAVE ATTENDED OVER 1500 LONG TERM PARTNERSHIPS BROKERED

REAL CHANGE

Over 100 Good Pitch films are being used at the heart of national or international social justice campaigns.

BEYOND MONEY RAISED, GOOD PITCH FILMS ARE MAKING REAL WORLD IMPACT.

Unrest Putting the spotlight on ME — an invisible disease which affects over 17 million people globally.

Thank You For The Rain Mobilising the communities hardest hit by climate change in East Africa to promote sustainable agriculture practice and climate resilient farming.

Please Remember MeScreened to health professionals and care providers in over 30 communities in Shanghai to increase understanding of dementia and promote compassionate care for the elderly.

9.70Powered the social movement which successfully challenged Colombia’s legislation around the Free Trade Agreement.

Gayby BabyBrought awareness of same sex parenting into every public school in the State of Victoria with free educational toolkits.

Escape FireUsed as a training tool for thousands of healthcare professionals including 4,038 nurses, 99 dieticians, 878 occupational therapists, and 85 physicians.

DRIVING WITH SELVI PROMOTED GENDER EQUALITY TO YOUNG PEOPLE IN OVER 250 SCHOOLS ACROSS INDIA AND BANGLADESH


NOTES

Indian Documentary Foundation122, Kartik ComplexOpp. Laxmi Industrial EstateLink Road, Andheri (West)Mumbai 400053India

indiandocumentaryfoundation.org

Facebook: facebook.com/goodpitchindia/

Twitter: @GoodPitchIndiaTweet about the event with #goodpitchindia

Instagram:@goodpitchindia

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