Vikram Teja Jayanti is an

Indian-American Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from India. The terms Asian Indian and East Indian are used to avoid confusion with Native Americans in the United States, who are also referred to as "Indians" or "Am ...

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

responsible for a number of well known full-feature documentary films. Two films he has production credits on have received

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

for Best Full-Feature

Documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

: he was a co-producer of the 1997 blockbuster ''

When We Were Kings ''When We Were Kings'' is a 1996 American documentary film directed by Leon Gast about the " Rumble in the Jungle" heavyweight championship boxing match that was held on October 30, 1974, in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) betw ...

'' and a creative consultant on 2005's '' Born Into Brothels''. A sampling of his other work includes ''Innocents Abroad'', '' The Man Who Bought Mustique'', '' James Ellroy's Feast of Death'', '' Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine'', ''Lincoln'' and ''The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector''. He and his films have also won a number of other awards, including the Special Jury Prize at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

, and have been nominated for others. Jayanti is currently a Film Studies tutor at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. He is a frequent collaborator with the award-winning film-maker

Anthony Wall Anthony David Wall (born 29 May 1975) is an English professional golfer. Career Wall was born in London. He turned professional in 1995 and has played on the European Tour since 1998. He has made the top 100 on the Order of Merit every season ...

, Editor of BBC ''Arena''.

Early life

Vikram Jayanti was born in New York in 1955, and spent his childhood variously in France, Italy, Switzerland, India and Costa Rica. He completed his education in England at

Tonbridge School Tonbridge School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for boys aged 13–18) in Tonbridge, Kent, England, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judde (sometimes spelt Judd). It is a member of the Eton Group and has clo ...

and attended the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

Career

After seeing

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

's ''

Mean Streets ''Mean Streets'' is a 1973 American crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, co-written by Scorsese and Mardik Martin, and starring Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel. It is produced by Warner Bros. The film premiered at the New York Fil ...

'' and

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; né Stipetić; born 5 September 1942) is a German filmmaker, actor, opera director, and author. Regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema, his films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with unusu ...

's '' The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser'' in the same week he moved to Los Angeles in 1977 to become a filmmaker. He began producing anthropological documentaries, including '' In Her Own Time'', about the anthropologist Barbara Myerhoff, and later ran two documentary film festivals in Los Angeles. His future work garnered numerous awards, such as a Special Jury Prize at Sundance and an Oscar in 1997 for ''

''. Since then he has directed a series of feature documentaries, which his friends call his "American monsters" series, about larger-than-life characters such as

Ken Kesey Ken Elton Kesey (; September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American novelist, essayist and Counterculture of the 1960s, countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies o ...

James Ellroy Lee Earle "James" Ellroy (born March 4, 1948) is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a telegrammatic prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, ...

Julian Schnabel Julian Schnabel (born October 26, 1951) is an American painter and filmmaker. In the 1980s, he received international attention for his "plate paintings"—with broken ceramic plates set onto large-scale paintings. Since the 1990s, he has been a ...

Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess Elo rating system, ra ...

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

and

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...

. '' The Man Who Bought Mustique'', which premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

in September 2000, was nominated for a

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

, and the UK's Channel Four version of the film won the Indie award for Best Documentary in 2000. Jayanti is known for "his gonzo choice of subjects," and he "has also produced high-profile television documentaries with his signature combination of eccentricity and amazement."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jayanti, Vikram Living people American documentary filmmakers People educated at Tonbridge School Alumni of the University of Warwick American expatriates in the United Kingdom Year of birth missing (living people)