“In our compartmentalized, super-specialized world, a mere glimpse into the workings of another discipline is a big step toward health, both economic and artistic.” —Amit Dutta

Born in Jammu in 1977, experimental filmmaker Amit Dutta is a unique cinematic voice in Indian cinema. Continually engaging with art, history, architecture, mythology, folk tales, literature, music, nature, and even chess, Dutta’s intriguing works can best be understood as exploring all that exists at the confluence of these diverse concerns.

Living far away from the conventional hubs of the film industry, Dutta has made the serene Kangra region of the Himalayas his home and source of inspiration. Over the years, his prolific and inimitable body of work has garnered admiration from film festivals—
like Venice and Rotterdam, to name a few—as well as cinephiles all over the world.

In keeping with his distinctive style of engaging with myriad forms of artistic expression, Dutta is also a published author exploring experimental fiction, non-fiction, and autobiographical writing. An effortless extension of his film practice, his books also seem to have an impact on his films. Dutta’s frequent use of text in his films work alongside his exceptional use of sound design, visual geometries, and the close attention he pays to nature, creating fascinating images which generate new meanings with each viewing. His deeply meditative films have an ability to create an interplay between time and space, giving viewers a feeling of existing in the past, present and future at the same time.

We are immensely delighted to present a retrospective of this phenomenal artist who has sublimely created his own distinct cinematic language.

Thom Andersen

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Self