Supriyo Sen

Supriyo Sen
NationalityIndian
OccupationFilm director
Years active1995 – present
AwardsBerlin Today Award, National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film
Websitehttps://www.supriyosenfilms.com

Supriyo Sen is an independent filmmaker from India.[1] He produced and directed the film Tangra Blues (2021).[2]

Supriyo Sen (right)

He directed the documentary Wagah which won the Berlin Today award at the Berlin Film Festival, The Nest which won the Best Environment / Conservation / Preservation in 48th National Film awards, Way Back Home which won the Best Film on Social Issues in 51st National Film Award, Hope Dies Last in War which won the National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film[3] in 55th National Film Awards and Swimming Through The Darkness which won the Best Exploration / Adventure Film (including sports) in 66th National Film awards.

Works

[edit]

His short documentary Wagah was shown at more than 200 film festivals and was regarded as the third most popular short film in the world in 2009 by German Short Film Magazine.[4] It also won the Berlin Today Award at the Berlin Film Festival.[5] After watching the movie eminent German filmmaker Wim Wenders commented that "Wagah is a manifesto against walls that divides people."[6]

His two hour long feature documentary on the Partition of India, Way Back Home is the first Indian documentary that was commercially released.[7]

Sen is a Berlinale Talent (international young filmmakers program by Berlin Film Festival).[8] He has served as juror at various film festivals, including the Busan International Film Festival,[9] Taiwan International Documentary Festival, DMZ Documentary Festival (Korea), Eagle Award (Indonesia), Kolkata International Film Festival, Dhaka International Short and Documentary Festival, SiGNS (Kerala) and Indian National Award selection.[citation needed]

Alongside directing, he also produced the TV/web series Kaali and Feluda.[10]

He has received grants from Sundance Documentary Fund, Jan Vrijman Fund (IDFA) and Asian Cinema Fund (Busan International Film Festival), DMZ Docs Fund several times and worked with NHK, DW TV, Planet, Goethe Institute, Films Division, PSBT and German, French American and Japanese producers.[11]

Filmography

[edit]
Year Title Category Duration Notes Ref
1995 Wait Until Death Documentary 54 min [12]
1997 Dream of Hanif Documentary Short 26 min [13]
2000 The Nest Documentary 40 min Won National Film award for Best Environment / Conservation / Preservation Film [14]
2003 Way Back Home Documentary 120 min Won National Film award for Best Film on Social Issue [15]
2007 Hope Dies Last in War Documentary 80 min Won National Film award for Best Non-Feature Film [16]
2008 Rupban - The Beautiful Documentary Short 26 min [17]
2009 Wagah Documentary Short 13 min Won Berlin Today Award at

Berlin International Film Festival

[18]
2011 Games & Peace Documentary Short 26 min [17]
2012 New Gift Documentary Short 3 min [17]
2013 Unfolding the Pata Story Documentary 52 min [17]
2016 Let There be Light Documentary 52 min [17]
2017 Our Grandparents Home Documentary 42 min [17]
2018 Swimming Through The Darkness Documentary 76 min Won Best Exploration / Adventure Film (Including Sports) [19]
2019 Waste Band Documentary 52 min [20]
2021 Tangra Blues Feature film 129 min [2]

Awards

[edit]

Sen has won more than 40 international awards for his films which include Berlin Today Award at Berlin Film Festival,[5] Crystal Globe at Karlovy Vary Film Festival,[21] Grand Prix at Bilbao International Film Festival,[22] BBC Award at Commonwealth Film Festival,[23] Golden Lola (German short film award),[24] Black Pearl Award at Abu Dhabi Film Festival,[25] National Geographic Award at Flickerfest,[26] Golden Conch at Mumbai International Film Festival,[27] as well as Jury and Audience Awards at various festivals including Krakow, Tampere, Hamburg, Uppsala, Munster, Huesca, Winterthur, Damascus, Zagreb, IFFI (Goa), Rio-de-Janeiro, Parnu, Faito, Saguenay.[22]

Retrospective

[edit]

A retrospective of his films was organized by IDSFFK and SiGNS (Kerala), Persistence and Resistance (New Delhi), International Documentary Festival (Chennai).[28][29]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Debolina Sen (3 January 2020). "Supriyo Sen's docu to be screened at Chennai fest | Kolkata News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Tangra Blues is all about music and gang wars". Telegraph India. 12 January 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  3. ^ "National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film", Wikipedia, 11 March 2021, retrieved 4 April 2021
  4. ^ Supriyo is receiving "Berlin Today Award" at Berlin Film Festival from legendary German director Wim Wenders, retrieved 17 April 2021
  5. ^ a b "Supriyo Sen's Wagah wins award at Berlin film fest". Hindustan Times. 10 February 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  6. ^ Bag, Anindita Ghose & Shamik (14 May 2011). "Reality check". mint. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  7. ^ Bag, Anindita Ghose & Shamik (14 May 2011). "Reality check". mint. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  8. ^ "Press Photos 2009". www.berlinale.de. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  9. ^ ""Wagah" director Supriyo Sen on Documentary Jury at Busan 2012". IMDb. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  10. ^ "Supriyo Sen | Director, Producer, Writer". IMDb. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  11. ^ "Supriyo Sen". DocWok. 10 January 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  12. ^ "Berlinale Talents Project - WAIT UNTIL DEATH". Berlinale Talents. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  13. ^ "Berlinale Talents Project - THE DREAM OF HANIF". Berlinale Talents. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  14. ^ "National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Environment/Conservation/Preservation Film", Wikipedia, 26 January 2021, retrieved 4 April 2021
  15. ^ a.chatterji, shoma. "Way Back Home: A Brilliant Documentary on the Partition". The Citizen. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  16. ^ Sen, Supriyo (4 November 2008), Hope Dies Last in War (Documentary), retrieved 4 April 2021
  17. ^ a b c d e f "Home". Supriyo Sen. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  18. ^ www.oberon.nl, Oberon Amsterdam, Wagah | IDFA, retrieved 4 April 2021
  19. ^ "National Awards 2019: Supriyo Sen on his docu, Swimming Through The Darkness, winning Best Film on Sports". Firstpost. 19 August 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  20. ^ "WASTE BAND". DOCU SCAPE Online. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  21. ^ "Supriyo debuts with Projonmo - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  22. ^ a b "Supriyo Sen". IMDb. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  23. ^ "Film-maker from Kolkata bags Commonwealth award". Zee News. 18 June 2003. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  24. ^ "DMZ International Documentary Film Festival". DMZ International Documentary Film Festival. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  25. ^ Kay2009-10-19T00:45:00+01:00, Jeremy. "Hipsters, Persian Cats among MEIFF Black Pearl winners". Screen. Retrieved 17 April 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ "Director Supriyo Sen on winning National Award for Best Film on Sports in the Non-Feature Films section for Swimming Through The Darkness: 'It feels good but it's a social story and not necessarily only a sports film' - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  27. ^ "Way Back Home- A review". refugeewatchonline. 21 December 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  28. ^ "Retrospective. Supriyo Sen – SiGNS". Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  29. ^ "Retrospectives – Magic Lantern Foundation". Retrieved 17 April 2021.