Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Visions of Post-Independence India in Arne Sucksdorff’s Documentaries

Stjernholm, Emil LU (2017) In BioScope: South Asian Screen Studies 8(1). p.81-102
Abstract
This article studies two post-war documentary films set in India, Indian Village (1951) and The Wind and the River (1953), directed by the celebrated Swedish filmmaker Arne Sucksdorff. While many scholars have studied these films in relation to Sucksdorff’s biography and Swedish national cinema, less emphasis has been placed on these Indian documentaries in relation to other international documentary work that took place in India during the post-independence period. The excursion to India took place on commission from the Swedish Cooperative Union and Wholesale Society and therefore the films are studied in relation to Charles R. Acland and Haidee Wasson’s notion of “useful cinema.” In doing so, this article emphasizes the didactic ideas... (More)
This article studies two post-war documentary films set in India, Indian Village (1951) and The Wind and the River (1953), directed by the celebrated Swedish filmmaker Arne Sucksdorff. While many scholars have studied these films in relation to Sucksdorff’s biography and Swedish national cinema, less emphasis has been placed on these Indian documentaries in relation to other international documentary work that took place in India during the post-independence period. The excursion to India took place on commission from the Swedish Cooperative Union and Wholesale Society and therefore the films are studied in relation to Charles R. Acland and Haidee Wasson’s notion of “useful cinema.” In doing so, this article emphasizes the didactic ideas behind the production of sponsored film and the way in which ideas of the welfare state were projected onto post-independence India. Reading these documentaries against the grain, this article also addresses the question of how these films affected the authorial discourse surrounding Arne Sucksdorff and conversely what impact his films had among critics and filmmakers in India. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
This article studies two post-war documentary films set in India, Indian Village (1951) and The Wind and the River (1953), directed by the celebrated Swedish filmmaker Arne Sucksdorff. While many scholars have studied these films in relation to Sucksdorff’s biography and Swedish national cinema, less emphasis has been placed on these Indian documentaries in relation to other international documentary work that took place in India during the post-independence period. The excursion to India took place on com- mission from the Swedish Cooperative Union and Wholesale Society and therefore the films are studied in relation to Charles R. Acland and Haidee Wasson’s notion of “use- ful cinema.” In doing so, this article emphasizes the didactic... (More)
This article studies two post-war documentary films set in India, Indian Village (1951) and The Wind and the River (1953), directed by the celebrated Swedish filmmaker Arne Sucksdorff. While many scholars have studied these films in relation to Sucksdorff’s biography and Swedish national cinema, less emphasis has been placed on these Indian documentaries in relation to other international documentary work that took place in India during the post-independence period. The excursion to India took place on com- mission from the Swedish Cooperative Union and Wholesale Society and therefore the films are studied in relation to Charles R. Acland and Haidee Wasson’s notion of “use- ful cinema.” In doing so, this article emphasizes the didactic ideas behind the produc- tion of sponsored film and the way in which ideas of the welfare state were projected onto post-independence India. Reading these documentaries against the grain, this article also addresses the question of how these films affected the authorial discourse surrounding Arne Sucksdorff and conversely what impact his films had among critics and filmmakers in India. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Arne Sucksdorff, Indian documentary history, useful cinema, transnational film, nation-building, welfare state
in
BioScope: South Asian Screen Studies
volume
8
issue
1
pages
81 - 102
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • scopus:85029375507
  • wos:000411081000005
ISSN
0974-9276
DOI
10.1177/0974927617699648
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
db578567-086f-469f-a465-50dfa202b20c
date added to LUP
2017-09-21 16:55:39
date last changed
2022-02-22 05:29:09
@article{db578567-086f-469f-a465-50dfa202b20c,
  abstract     = {{This article studies two post-war documentary films set in India, Indian Village (1951) and The Wind and the River (1953), directed by the celebrated Swedish filmmaker Arne Sucksdorff. While many scholars have studied these films in relation to Sucksdorff’s biography and Swedish national cinema, less emphasis has been placed on these Indian documentaries in relation to other international documentary work that took place in India during the post-independence period. The excursion to India took place on commission from the Swedish Cooperative Union and Wholesale Society and therefore the films are studied in relation to Charles R. Acland and Haidee Wasson’s notion of “useful cinema.” In doing so, this article emphasizes the didactic ideas behind the production of sponsored film and the way in which ideas of the welfare state were projected onto post-independence India. Reading these documentaries against the grain, this article also addresses the question of how these films affected the authorial discourse surrounding Arne Sucksdorff and conversely what impact his films had among critics and filmmakers in India.}},
  author       = {{Stjernholm, Emil}},
  issn         = {{0974-9276}},
  keywords     = {{Arne Sucksdorff; Indian documentary history; useful cinema; transnational film; nation-building; welfare state}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{81--102}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{BioScope: South Asian Screen Studies}},
  title        = {{Visions of Post-Independence India in Arne Sucksdorff’s Documentaries}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0974927617699648}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/0974927617699648}},
  volume       = {{8}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}