Sanjay Rawal (born October 30, 1974) is an
Indian-American documentary film director who lives in New York City. His first feature length film ''
Food Chains'' premiered at the
Berlin Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...
in its Culinary Cinema Programme in 2014 and had its US premiere at the
Tribeca Film Festival.
''Food Chains'' was produced by Smriti Keshari,
Eva Longoria,
Eric Schlosser, and Rawal himself.
Forest Whitaker narrates. Rawal was a winner of the 2015
James Beard Foundation Award for Special/Documentary for ''Food Chains''.
[James Beard Foundation]
/ The 2015 Book, Broadcast, and Journalism Awards: Complete Winner Recap
'' James Beard Foundation'', April 24, 2015 The film itself shared the 2016 BritDoc Documentary Impact Award.
Rawal's second movie ''
3100: Run and Become'' was released in 2018. The film was featured on a number of podcasts IS includin
Rich RollMind Pumpand
Dr. Rangan Chatterjee. “Running unites us. At one point, every culture on Earth relied on running. It’s baked into our DNA,” Rawal said. The film received generally positive reviews including by Kimber Myers of the Los Angeles
Times. "Rawal's well-shot film is engaging - particularly for those with an interest in running and/or meditation," she wrote. Critic Pamela Powell went further, writing "3100: Run and Become beautifully captures the heart and inspiration of all who close their eyes, take a breath, and open their hearts to life."
Rawal's third film,
Gather
Gather, gatherer, or gathering may refer to:
Anthropology and sociology
* Hunter-gatherer, a person or a society whose subsistence depends on hunting and gathering of wild foods
*Intensive gathering, the practice of cultivating wild plants as a s ...
, was released straight-to-digital in September 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. It received a
New York Times Critic's Pick selection. Reviewer Lovia Gyarkye wrote, "The film wonderfully weaves personal stories with archival footage that contextualizes the continued violence against Native Americans. Rawal covers a substantial amount of ground and deftly balances the dense material without losing sight of the mission driving the bigger story: Healing from generational trauma sometimes starts with just one person." The film counted
Jason Momoa as an Executive Producer. Mr. Momoa promoted the film on
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. The film was awarded a James Beard Foundation Media Award on June 12, 2022, making Rawal a rare two-time winner.
Rawal was raised in northern California, where his father is a tomato breeder, and so Rawal was introduced to the agricultural industry at a young age. He began ''Food Chains'' in 2011, after witnessing the inequality in the fields of Florida. In March 2016, Rawal was thanked by the
Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...
campaign for the licensing of related video footage used in the Sanders' advertisement titled "Tenemos Familias." Rawal has advocated against the power of large food monopolies and has pushed local, labor-friendly solutions to human rights abuses in the fields.
Rawal's second short
documentary film, ''
Challenging Impossibility
''Challenging Impossibility'' is a 2011 documentary film which chronicles the weightlifting odyssey of the spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy, who in 1985 at the age of 54 took up weightlifting and performing feats of strength using the power of meditat ...
'', premiered at the 2011
Tribeca Film Festival and played in nearly 70 more. It won awards at several film festivals including at the
Atlanta Shortsfest
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
. His first film of any kind ''Ocean Monk'' won the Best Documentary Short Award at the 2010
St. Louis International Film Festival.
Prior to becoming a filmmaker, Rawal was deeply involved with international development and ran projects in over 40 nations.
He worked on projects with celebrities like
Wyclef Jean and
Donna Karan. Rawal was also engaged in activism regarding peace, security, and women's issues—serving on the first men's committee for
V-Day.
Much of his work has been inspired by his spiritual teacher
Sri Chinmoy and he has edited and published books by this leader—including ''America the Beautiful'', which was read as an audiobook by
Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Stephen Dreyfuss (; born Dreyfus; October 29, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for starring in popular films during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, including ''American Graffiti'' (1973), ''Jaws'' (1975), ''Close Encounters of the T ...
as well as ''Guru Marathon'', published by District Vision.
References
External links
*
''Food Chains''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rawal, Sanjay
1974 births
Living people
American documentary film directors
Devotees of Sri Chinmoy