Date:28/04/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/04/28/stories/2006042806430200.htm

New Delhi

International honour for documentary film-maker

It's not easy being a documentary filmmaker in India. Unlike their Bollywood counterparts who often get to soak in the glory of even an award nomination, documentary filmmakers often go unnoticed here.

Not surprising then that Dhananjoy Mandal is a name better known in the international festival circuit than in his own country. Just back after winning the best documentary award at the third Minsk International Environment Film Festival held in Belarus for his film "A Silent Killer", Dhananjoy is thrilled with the response the film received at the event.

The winner of the National Film Award in 2003 for the best investigative film of the year, the international recognition at Belarus has only strengthened Dhananjoy's resolve to make documentaries.

A self-taught filmmaker who has been involved with documentaries, short films and features, Dhananjoy has nearly 25 works to his credit.

"A Silent Killer" revolves round arsenic contamination of ground water in West Bengal. According to the film, ground water drawn through tube-wells in 75 blocks of eight districts of West Bengal has shown arsenic content well above the permissible limit. Of the State's 80 million plus people, nearly 28 million were found to have been affected by the contamination. And with no antidote yet available for the diseases caused by arsenic water, Dhananjoy feels his film is very relevant.

"The problem for us is not making the film but screening it. There is no slot on which documentaries, even national award winning ones, are finding space on television. We need to do something to reach out to the people that these films are made for," he notes. -- Lakshmi B. Ghosh

-- Lakshmi B. Ghosh