Documentary on Gandhi gets top honours at 21st New York Indian Film Festival

Visakhapatnam: A documentary film ‘Ahimsa- Gandhi: The Power of The Powerless,’ produced by Uma Gajapati Raju, Sanchaita Gajapati Raju and Jean Luc Berlot, and written and directed by Ramesh Sharma (Emmy nominee), won the Best Documentary Award at the 21st New York Indian Film Festival on Sunday.

The film comes at a time when the world needs to be reminded of the Mahatma’s teachings of peace and non-violence.

The chairperson of Simhachalam Temple Trust and MANASSAS, Sanchaita Gajapati Raju, said the film speaks to the conscience of humanity as people globally grapple with intractable problems surrounding race, and as societies struggle to give the marginalised and underserved human dignity and restore fundamental human rights.

The film brings to the fore the impact of the Gandhian message of non-violence worldwide: how it inspired Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, Barack Obama and the Civil Rights Movement in the United States; the Solidarity Movement in Poland, the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia as well as Nelson Mandela and the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa.

The title song ‘Ahimsa’ was composed by A.R. Rahman and Bono. “Am overwhelmed that our film, which is a labour of love and has been a long time in the making, has won this prestigious award. At a time when the world is fraught with turbulence, the Mahatma’s teachings and life are all the more relevant. Thank you to our French Co- Producer Jean Luc Berlot,” Sanchaita Gajapati Raju said.