Filmmaker S Sukhdev to get a grand tribute on his 35th death anniversary

Filmmaker S Sukhdev to get a grand tribute on his 35th death anniversary

NEW DELHI: The renowned late filmmaker S Sukhdev who set new trends in documentary and non-feature films in the country will be remembered on his 35th death anniversary on 1 March with the screening of the film The Last Adieu by Shabnam Sukhdev.

 

The event to be held in Films Division in Pedder Road in Mumbai will also see the release of DVDs of Sukhdev’s films.

 

The Last Adieu is a 90-minute film with English sub-titles that is a personal quest of a filmmaker daughter to unravel the past and make a connection with her filmmaker father, S. Sukhdev, who died suddenly at the age of 46, leaving behind a huge body of work and an unresolved relationship with his daughter.

 

While he was an accomplished filmmaker in the public eye, his family had another story to tell. With the help of archival audio recordings, old photographs and Sukhdev’s films, Shabnam endeavours to construct a picture of her father as she struggles to love and respect him for who he was.

 

The film is an important record of a phase in documentary history that inspired and paved the way for the new wave in non-fiction narratives, and pays homage to Sukhdev, an important filmmaker who revolutionised documentary filmmaking in India in the mid sixties and through the seventies.

 

Produced by Films Division and directed by Shabnam Sukhdev, the film has been edited by Jabeen Merchant with sound design and sound mixing by Mohandas VP and camerawork by Ashwin Shukla.

 

Sukhdev directed 29 films between 1958 and 1980, his last documentary Sahira being released after his death.

 

Some of his renowned films were After the Silence, Thunder of Freedom, Nine Months to Freedom: The Story of Bangladesh, Khilonewala, Tomorrow May Be Too Late, An Indian Day, Homage to Lal Bahadur, After the Eclipse, Wild Life in India, And Miles to Go..., and Frontiers of Freedom.

 

He also directed the feature – My Love in 2970 starring Shashi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore, apart from writing, producing and scripting some other films.