Documenting the political, cultural, and social assertion of historically marginalised communities in India is at the heart of my work.
About Me
I am Somnath Waghmare, a documentary filmmaker and researcher born to a rural Dalit-Buddhist family in Malewadi, Western Maharashtra, India. My mother worked as an agricultural labourer and my father was an ex-mill worker in Bombay, though both have retired because of old age. In 1990 when the mill was shut down in Bombay my parents shifted to my mother’s village.
With limited resources and social capital I have made two documentary films ‘I am Not a Witch’ (2015) and ‘The Battle of Bhima Koregaon: An Unending Journey’ (2017). The first film is about witch-hunting in an Adivasi community in Nandurbar, Maharashtra. The second is a timely documentation of the annual Dalit –Bahujan gathering of Bhima Koregaon near Pune city and history’s politics in contemporary India. Both documentaries have been screened in different cities of India and abroad and have gained wide critical acclaim.
My
Documentaries
Documentaries
Rajgruha Stands tall (2020)
The Battle of Bhima Koregaon, An Unending Journey ( 2017)
I Am Not a Witch (2016)
Media report
A film that celebrates the memory of Bhima Koregoan
- Round Table India
TISS student’s docufilm heads for the Big Apple
- Mumbai Mirror
Articles
How Gail Omvedt was embraced by Dalit-Bahujan communities
- The Indian Express
Asserting identity and culture through songs
- Hindustan Times