Raj Amit Kumar is a filmmaker and writer known for his socio-political drama ''

Unfreedom ''Unfreedom: Blemished light'' (Hindi title: ''Dagh Ujala'') is a 2014 Indian drama film by Raj Amit Kumar, which was released in North America on 29 May 2015. Faiz Ahmad Faiz's poem, "Ye Dagh Dagh Ujala", is the inspiration behind the film. Th ...

'' which is banned in India as it dealt with religious fundamentalism and violence against homosexuals. The film was released in the U.S. in 2015, and won a UFVA Faculty Screenwriting Award in 2009, and several other International Awards. The film was later acquired by and released on NETFLIX despite its continued ban by Censor Board of India. His Second film Brown is in post-production, and he is currently shooting an Untitled Web Series.

Filmmaker and writer

, a socio-political drama, is his first feature film. Set in New York and New Delhi, the film deals with issues of identity and violence. The film stars

Victor Banerjee Victor Banerjee is an Indian actor who appears in English, Hindi, Bengali and Assamese language films. He has worked for directors such as Roman Polanski, James Ivory, Sir David Lean, Jerry London, Ronald Neame, Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Shy ...

and

Adil Hussain Adil Hussain () is an Indian actor who has worked in Indian cinema, including art house cinema and mainstream Bollywood, as well as international cinema, in films such as '' The Reluctant Fundamentalist'' and '' Life of Pi'' (both 2012). He r ...

. In a recent interview, Victor Banerjee commended Raj Amit Kumar for his approach to sex and violence in this film, which were an essential part of the story and screenplay, even though he has usually condemned the vulgarity with which these are approached in mainstream cinema. National Film Awards winner Hari Nair is the cinematographer of the film. Academy Award winner

Resul Pookutty Resul Pookutty (born 30 May 1971) is an Indian film sound designer, sound editor and audio mixer. He won the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing, along with Richard Pryke and Ian Tapp, for ''Slumdog Millionaire''. Pookutty has worked in Hind ...

has done the sound design and the original music score is by

Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...

winner Wayne Sharpe and Jesse Kotansky. The script for the film won the first prize in the 2009 Faculty Screenwriting Competition at

University Film and Video Association The University Film and Video Association (UFVA) is an organization of professors, scholars, and film and video makers. Although it is based in the U.S., it has members throughout the world. Its stated description is: The UFVA is an international ...

. Kumar is shooting his next film, titled ''Brown'' in Butte, Montana,

Media academic and speaker

Kumar graduated with a Masters of Arts in Cinema and Media Studies from

College of Staten Island The College of Staten Island (CSI) is a public university in Staten Island, New York. It is one of the 11 four-year senior colleges within the City University of New York system. Programs in the liberal arts and sciences and professional studie ...

(

CUNY The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

) in 2006, where he received the George Custen Memorial Award for Academic Excellence. He has also been awarded by the National Scholarship of India for Academic Excellence, and a First Prize in Faculty Screenwriting Award at

(UFVA) 2009. Having finished his PhD coursework and taking PHD ABD in Cinema and Media studies at

Southern Illinois University Carbondale Southern Illinois University (SIU or SIUC) is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois. Founded in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. The university enrolls students from all 50 ...

(SIUC) he began work on his first feature-length film ''

''. He is also a media academic, teacher, and writer. He has taught cinema theory and history at both his alma maters between the years 2005 to 2009, and his writings and research papers have been published and presented at various conferences as well.

Fight against censorship

In India, ''

'' was refused certification by the Examining Committee; a revising committee of the Censor Board proposed cuts which Kumar refused. He appealed to the Indian Government's Information and Broadcasting Appellate Tribunal FCAT, and in response, the Tribunal completely banned the film. Recently, the news of banning has gained widespread coverage in the media, bringing other filmmakers into the fight against censorship.

References

External links

Dark Frames website

Kumar's personal website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Raj Amit Film directors from Florida 1978 births Living people Southern Illinois University Carbondale alumni College of Staten Island alumni American male screenwriters American film directors of Indian descent

Filmmaker and writer

Media academic and speaker

Fight against censorship

See also

References

External links