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Indian and South Asian Films
Movies of India and other South Asian countries: DVDs, streaming videos, books at UTSA Libraries
Documentaries - India, Pakistan and South Asia
Also check out our streaming video collections for more documentaries.
- A Million Steps (2003)Directed by Pankaj Butalia
In the 1860's, the British, eager to know the terrain of Tibet in case the Russians invaded India through Lhasa, trained Indian surveyors to disguise themselves as monks to enter Tibet incognito. The "Pundits" carried out the most authoritative surveys of their times. (22 minutes) 2003
GA71.C6 M55 2003 - Agony of Reform (2003)Clash between governments and the marketplace
HC54 .A36 2003 - Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh (1993)After centuries of living in harmony with the environment, recent trends threaten to disrupt traditions of ecological balance and social harmony in the western Himalayas. Also available Streaming: Alexander Street
- Asha Goes to IndiaDS414.2 .A85 2010
An American woman travels to India. - Awakening: Empowering Women Through Microloans (2005)Documents the social and economic empowerment of women in Afghanistan and India.
HQ1735.6 .A93 2005 - Because of Our Rights: A Film (1989)SD646.U8 B38 1993
Struggle of the people of Ghad, Saharanpu, to establish their historical rights to local forest resources. - Between a Rock and a Hard Place : The Debt Slaves of Nepal (2007)DS422.C3 B4894 2007
Also available through Films on Demand. - Bhopal : The Search for Justice (2004 )HD7269.C452 B56 2004
- Bishar BluesBP63.I4 B57 2006
Journey to understand Marfat, an indigenous form of Islam, through encounters with various Bengali Fakirs and their songs. - Bittersweet (1994)Interviews with East Indians living in the United States and with Americans of East Indian descent.
E184 .E2 B588 - Blood BrotherStory of working in the village of Tamil Nadu, India for five years with children with AIDS.
RA643.86.I4 B56 2014 - Bombay Our City (1985)Tells the story of the four million slum dwellers who make up half of the city's population.
HD7361 .B6 B66 (Downtown) - Born Into Brothels (2005)HQ792 .I4 B67 2005 (Downtown Library)
- Born into Prostitution: the Badis of NepalDS422.C3 B676 2007
A daughter of a Badi prostitute is required to be registered under the surname Nepali. So marked from birth, she is born into prostitution and is expected to follow her mother into that trade. - Calcutta"An affectionate 70mins documentary about life in the great West Bengali city of Calcutta - now Kolkata, and once 'the Paris of Asia - as told by a dozen of the people who love to live there."
Filmed in 1989 by Peter Middleton. Channel 4 TV - Calcutta CallingStreaming: Alexander Street
Directed by Andre Hormann
“Business Process Outsourcing” is the fastest growing industry in the world. In India, approximately 350,000 people are currently working in call centers. 2006 - Calcutta Calling : A Film by Sasha Khokha. (2004)Three teenage girls, adopted at birth from a Bengali orphanage by white American families.
DVD HV875.58.I4 C34 2004 - Calcutta Pride March 2004Documents the second Pride March held in Calcutta.
HQ76.965.G38 C35 2007 - Canton, China and Calcutta, India (2005)DS796.C2 C3686 2005
- Caste Violence in India: Hindu vs. HinduDS422.C3 H8 2007
"Seen through the lens of a veteran photojournalist, this program looks at both sides of the struggle between the upper-caste Ranvir militia and Dalit supporters of the Marxist-Leninists in Bihar" - A Certain Liberation (Shadhinota) (2003)A woman goes mad during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971
HV6250.4.W65 C47 2009 - Chaliyar: The Final StruggleRejuvenation of a dying river polluted by a factory in Kerala in southern India. 1999
TD424.4.I4 C43 - Cities and PlacesDS414.2 .C47
Explores traditional Indian culture.
as shown in artwork, celebrations and day-to-day life. (1994) - Crossing LinesA journey to India, where Indira visits her father's extended family for the first time after his death
E184.E2 C76 2007 - Dadi and Her FamilyPortrait of a Jat farming family in Haryana, India.
HQ1745 .D33 1999 (VHS) (offsite) - Dadi's Family (1988)Portrait of a farming family in India which focuses on Dadi, the grandmother, who manages a large household of sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren.
PN1995.9.D6 D335 1988 (VHS) (offsite) - Dam/Age (Damage) : A film with Arundhati RoyTraces writer Arundhati Roy's bold and controversial campaign against the Narmada Valley dam project in India, a massive undertaking that would drown fertile farmlands and displace over a million people. 2002
- Death and Dying in VaranasiEvery year many Hindus travel to Varanasi to die, believing that cremation there provides an immediate entry to heaven. 2002
BL1214.72 .H65
Also available from Films on Demand - Death of Distance (2005)Explores factors that encourage outsourcing (U.S. laws, special training and cheap wages in India) and the impact it has on both the U.S. and Indian workers.
HD9696.67.I42 O78 2005 - A Death for Peace : Mahatma Gandhi and the Impossible Quest (2005)DS481.G3 D3758 2010
- Dhobighat (2004)The world's largest out-door laundry where 4,000 members of the Dhobi caste work.
PN1995.9.D6 D463 2004 - Die is CasteAn exploration of caste dynamics and an appraisal of three decades of the Naxalite movement in the state of Bihar in Eastern India.
DS485.B5175 D542 2004 - Diverted to Delhi (2002)The toll-free telephone numbers used to place orders are often answered thousands of miles away by Indians trained to speak and think like Americans, or Brits or Australians. Also available Streaming: Alexander Street
HE8789.I4 D58 2002 - Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermath (2008)Critically acclaimed documentary examines hate crimes against Sikh Americans following 9/11.
JV6456 .D58 2008 - Division of Hearts (1987)Ordinary people from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh tell their experience with Partition.
DS480.842 .D58 1987 (VHS) (offsite)
Also check out our streaming video collections for more documentaries.
- Father, Son and Holy War (1994)Examining the connection between religion, violence and male identity in India today.
HQ1090.7.I4 F38 2008 Downtown - Fishers of MenBL2032.A25 F57 1997
Documentary on the Adivasis of the Chota Nagpur plateau in eastern India where Christian missionaries offer the prospects of education and conversion, and Hindu revivalist groups try to reabsorb them back into their fold. - Follow the Money (2006)The director sets out to track a small investment he made in a Far East Fund.
HG4521 .F6155 2006 - Forest of BlissA film without voiceover commentary, involves the viewer in an intense encounter with daily life in Benares, India's most holy city, Director: Robert Gardner
DS486.B4 F67 2008 - Fourth Stage : A Hindu's Quest for Release (1986)A prominent Hindu journalist decides whether or not to join the monastery during his retirement.
BL1238.72 .F68 1986 - Frontiers of PeaceBL1356 .F76 1986
Explores Jainism by showing the interrelationship between all four elements of the "Sangh" or community of monks, nuns, laymen. - Ganges (2008)Reveals how the Ganges has shaped the wildlife, culture and beliefs in India.
DS485.G25 G36 2008 - Ganges: River to HeavenHindu religious aspiration: to die in the city of Varanasi, on the banks of the sacred Ganges to be released from the cycle of earthly life. 2003
BL1243.76.V382 G35 - I Live in Behrampada (1993)History of a Muslim ghetto in India
HV7287.96 I42 I54 - Gift med gud: Joginis of India (2007)In southern India, Yellamma is the goddess of the untouchables, and the Joginis are typically Dalit girls dedicated to their service.
DS422.C3 M3775 2007 - Girl in the River: The Price of ForgivenessHV6197.P18 G57 2016 (DVD & online)
The contradictions between modernism and tradition within Pakistani society, as Saba struggles with pressures to “forgive” the relatives who tried to kill her. Nominated for a 2016 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.
Streaming: Films on Demand - Goa Under SiegeEnvironmental and social cost of building the 1.2 million visitor tourist trade in Goa, India. 1999.
G155.I4 G63 1999 - Great MoghulsPart 2 and Part 5
DS461 .G78 1990 - Heat of India : Get 1.1 Billion's Attention (2007)Examines the impact of the India's newfound wealth on domestic and international business.
HF3786.5 .H43 2007 - History of India : A Brief Introduction (2006)(21 minutes)
DS436 .H57 2006 - Holy City of Life and Death : Varanasi, India (2004)BL1214.72 .H65 2004
- Images of DevelopmentUrban planning and development, and being poor, powerless and marginalized in Kolkata.
HT169.I52 C35 2002 - Images of India : The Land & People (2005)DS421 .I53 2003
- India (2005)Follows the lives of 5 child laborers in India
HD6250 .I64 T45 2005 - India : Land of the Monsoon (1991)How the seasonal monsoon winds affect the agriculture and the lives of the people of India.
DS414.2 .I533 1991 - India: The Untouchables the Small Secret of India (2006)Although discrimination against Dalits is illegal, it continues to occur
DS422 C3 I53 - India and Pakistan: The Expanding Nuclear ThreatDS485 .K23 K37 2004
- Indus : The Unvoiced Civilization (2004)Details of the Indus Valley civilization are slowly being extracted from the archaeological record.
DS425 .I63 2004 - Indus to Independence : A Journey Through Indian HistoryDS407 .I5387 2003
Also available through Films on Demand - In Search of Gandhi (2008)Adopting the conventions of a road-movie, the film crew travels down the famous trail of Gandhi's salt march, stopping at the same villages and cities where Gandhi and his followers raised their call for independence.
DS480.853 .I5 2008 - In the Name of God (1992)See entry for Ram Ke Naam.
- Jai Bhim ComradeDirected by Anand Patwardhan
Explores lives and politics of Dalit people in Mumbai. 2012
DS422.C3 P38 2012 - Kamala and RajiStreaming Kanopy. Produced and directed by the makers of Dadi's Family, this film is about Kamala and Raji, two women of the working poor who live in Ahmedabad, capital of the west Indian state of Gujarat.
- Kashmir Valley of TearsIn the 1947 partition of India into India and Pakistan, Kashmir was a majority Muslim state that stayed with India.
DS485.K23 K37 2004 - Kashmir Freedom’s ThirstContrasting its tourist appeal with an overview of its bloody territory disputes, this documentary gives voice to Kashmir’s determination to be free. Viewers are transported to the region’s remote valleys, now patrolled by foreign security forces, and meet fervent supporters of “azadi”—independence from India. (52 minutes)
2009 - Kastevold i Indien (2007)Looks at both sides of the struggle between the upper-caste Ranvir militia and Dalit supporters of the Marxist-Leninists in Bihar.
DS422.C3 H8 2007 - Keep Her Under Control: Law's Patriarchy in India (1998) (online)Streaming: Alexander Street Press
Explores the role of women in a Muslim-dominated village in Rajasthan, in northern India.
Also on DVD: DS432.M35 M667 1998 - Khyal : Classical Singing of North India (1998)ML338 .K59 1998
- Killer Bargain (2006) (online)Streaming: Alexander Street Press
Indian textile companies who expose their workers to dangerous chemicals
Also on DVD: HD9866.I4 K55 2006 - King of Calls: Telemarketers in India (2009) (online)Streaming: Alexander Street Press
Also on DVD: HF5415.12.I5 K56 2008 - Knowing Her Place (1990)An Indian woman looks at her life, her marriage, and her role in contemporary society both in India and the United States.
HQ1743 .K6 1990 - Kumar TalkiesDocuments the impact of the movie theater Kumar Talkies on the residents of the northern Indian town of Kalpi by juxtaposing the reality of Kalpi, where poverty affects all facets of life, with the world of rebellion and romance on the silver screen. 1998
PN1993.5 .I8 K865 1998 - Kumbh Mela : Songs of the River (2004)Documents the Allahabad Kumbh Mela in India during January 2001.
DVD: BL1239.82.K85 K863 2004 - Lakshmí and MeHN690.Z9 L357 2008
A 21-year-old housemaid in Mumbai working ten hours a day, seven days a week. One of her employer's makes a documentary exploring their relationship. - Larger Than Life: India's Bollywood Film CultureStreaming: Films on Demand
Stars: Shah Rukh Khan
This program travels through the landscape of Indian cinema, providing contrasts and comparisons with its counterpart in the west. Interviews with Shah Rukh Khan and Manisha Koirala examine the pressures of in Indian film acting. 2003
Also on DVD: PN1993.5.I8 L37 2005 - Last Market (2007)Explains how the world's poor, who collectively have enormous buying power, represent an untapped engine of global economic growth.
HF4055 .L37 2007 - Life & Death on the River Ganges (2005)DS485.G25 L5 2005
- Litigating Disaster (2004)HD7269.C452 L5259 2004
From 1984 Bhopal, India disaster. - Mad Cow Sacred Cow (online)Streaming: Alexander Street Press
Terrified that his favorite food, hamburgers, will kill him, Canadian filmmaker Anand Ramayya embarks on a journey that reveals connections between the mad cow crisis, the farm crisis, and the global food crisis. - Maha Kumbh: A Mythic ConfluenceBL1239.82 .K85 M34
Also available online through Films of Demand (UTSA) - Mahasweta Devi : Witness, Advocate, Writer (2001)Life and writings of one of India's most celebrated authors, Mahasweta Devi.
PK1718 .D4737 Z56 2001 - MallamallSuperstores and malls compete with traditional small shops in India. 2012
DVD: HF5429.6 .M377 2012 - Menstrual ManEmpowering women in India to combat poverty. 2013
GN484.38 .M467 2013 - Mumbai MassacreRelates the perspective of victims and survivors of the Mumbai terrorist attack of November 26, 2008.
HV6433.4 I42 B66 - Muslims in Love (online)Streaming: Alexander Street Press
The stories of devout young American Muslims searching for alternatives to arranged marriages.
2010
Also available on DVD HQ525.I8 M87 2010 - My Mother India (2001) (online)An interethnic family becomes a complex commentary on the social, political and religious events surrounding the anti-Sikh riots of 1984.2001
Also available on DVD HQ670.15.D4 M9 2001
Also check out our streaming video collections for more documentaries.
- Nalini by Day, Nancy by Night (2005)Lives of Indian telemarkers
HF5415.1265 .N3556 2005 - Narmada Diary (1995)HD1698 .I42 N376 2007
- Never Ending Path (2004)The story of women living in Tamil Nadu.
HQ1237.5.I4 N4847 2004 - New Americans (2009)JK1759 .N49
- No Country for Young Girls?A journey across India to observe the consequences of sex-selective abortion
Downtown: HQ767.5.I5 N6 2008 - One City, Two WorldsA look at the modern city of Bombay.
DS486.B7 O54 2000 - One Night in Bhopal (2005) (online)Streaming: Alexander Street Press
1984 pesticide leak at Union Carbide and its consequences.
Also available on DVD HD7269.C452 I5285 2005 - Panihari : the Water Women of India (2006)DS485.T476 P36 2006
- Partition of India Legacy of BloodDS384 .P37 1998 (VHS) (offsite)
- Photo Wallahs : an Encounter with Photography in Mussoorie, a North Indian Hill Station (1991)Streaming: Alexander Street
- Rafting to BombayDS135.I62 B66 2009
- Ram Ke Naam: In the Name of GodThough India is a secular state, religious fundamentalism is common. This film focuses on efforts to destroy a 16th century mosque in Ayodhya supposedly built by Babar, the first Mughal emperor of India, but others claim the mosque was built at the birthplace of the Hindu god Ram. This controversial issue has led to religious riots costing thousands of lives with the destruction of the mosque by Hindus in 1992.
BL2015.P57 R36 2000 (Downtown) - Robert Fortune : The Tea Thief (2001) (online)Chronicles the role that tea played in the expansion of the British Empire.
Streaming and DVD GT2907.C6 R634 2001 - Runaway Grooms (2005) (online)Many men of Indian origin residing in the West travel to India to meet and marry an Indian woman. Increasingly many of these brides are abandoned over dowry disputes. Also available on DVD HQ670 .R85 2005
- ShakuntalaPK3796 .S4 2005
Kālidāsa's play produced in classic Nāṭyaśāstra style with authentic music, dance, costumes, makeup and mudras. - Shakti: The Power of WomenTaking inspiration from the supreme female deity of the Hindu religion to celebrate the power of women to drive change in India. HQ1173 .S535 2005
- Shipbreakers (2005) (online)Streaming: You Tube
Chronicles the lives of scrap scavengers of sea vessels in Alang, India. - So Far From India (1983) (online)Director: Mira Nair
Best Documentary prizes American Film Festival and New York's Global Village Film Festival. Double portrait of Indian news dealer in New York and his pregnant wife in India.
Streaming: Alexander Street - Soul of India (2006)Examines the increasing violence between Hindus and Muslims, the rise of Hindu fundamentalism.
DS407 .S68 2006 - Story of India (2008)DS436 .S85 2008
- Taj Mahal: Heaven on Earth (2009)NA6183 .T35 T35
- A Thin Wall: Stories from the Partition of IndiaStreaming (Films on Demand)
About memory, history, and the possibility of reconciliation. It focuses on the partition of India in 1947, but derives lessons that remain urgently relevant. - Thread of Karma (online)Streaming: Alexander Street Press
Directed by Ritu Sarin & Tezing Sonam
The life of a young Tibetan lama as he aspires to live up to the reputation of his former incarnation. 2007
BQ7890 .T473
Streaming and DVD - Varanasi (Sacred Fire)Account of cremation rituals at Manikarnika Ghat, Indian's holiest cremation ground.
BL1153.7 .V37 2004 - Varanasi City of LightBL1243.76 V382 V38
- We Are Not Your Monkeys / Occupation, Millworker : Two Short Films (1996)DS422 .C3 W43 1996
Textile mills, once the foundation of Bombay's economy, now find it difficult to survive in a changing economic climate. - Worst Job on Earth : The Bhangis of India (2007)DS422.C3 W6778 2007
Dalit Families
Also check out our streaming video collections for more documentaries.
- Against My WillInvestigates violence against women in Pakistan (2002)
HV6250.4 W65 A434 - (Downtown - DVD) - Bhutto 2010Documentary on first woman to lead an Islamic nation. (2010)
DVD DS389.22 B48 B48 2010 - Birth of Pakistan (2004)DS382 .B57 2004
Briefly surveys Pakistan's history from 1947 through 1988 election of Benazir Bhutto. (20 minutes) - Born into Prostitution: the Badis of NepalDS422.C3 B676 2007
A daughter of a Badi prostitute is required to be registered under the surname Nepali. So marked from birth, she is born into prostitution and is expected to follow her mother into that trade. - Division of HeartsDirected by Satti Khanna & Peter Chappell
Documentary. The British division of colonial India into Pakistan and the Republic of India caused tremendous loss of life and relocation of millions of people. After centuries of coexistence, Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims fell victim to mutual suspicion as violence and murder swept through the countryside, and village populations changed overnight. In this film, ordinary people from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh tell this history and recount their own tumultuous experiences.
DS480.842 .D58 1987 (VHS) (storage library) - Duel in Pakistan: Benazir Bhutto Between the Mosque and the MilitaryDS389.22.B48 D84 2010
Life, career and assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the first woman to govern an Islamic country. - For a Place Under the HeavensHow women are coping with and surviving the increasing religiosity of civil and political life in Pakistan.
(2003)
HQ1745.5 .F67 2003
DVD and streaming: Alexander Street - From Dust: A FilmSri Lanka's government's response to the 2004 tsumani. (2006)
HV555 .72F76 2006 - Haro Hara: Pilgrimage to Kataragama Sri LankaA documentary following Tamil Hindu and Sri Lankan Vedda pilgrims on the pada yatra, an ancient 300 km. walking pilgrimage down east coast of Sri Lanka.
BL1239.38 .S722 H37 2007 - India and Pakistan: the expanding nuclear threatDS485 .K23 K37 2004
- Kashmir Valley of TearsIn the 1947 partition of India into India and Pakistan, Kashmir was a majority Muslim state that stayed with India.
DS485.K23 K37 2004 - License to KillBBC production investigates cases of women murdered in Pakistan in the name of honor.
HQ1745.5 .L534 2000 (Downtown) - Malana: Globalization of a Himalayan VillageHC438.M345 M35 2010
- My Daughter the TerroristTamil Tigers
Streaming: Alexander Street and DVD HV6431 .M9 2008 - Otherer Side of the Tora BoraThe area, which is a short distance from Afghanistan, is experiencing growing tensions from religious and tribal sources and from the Taliban.
DS379 .O8447 2007 - Partition of India Legacy of BloodDS384 .P37 1998 (VHS) (offsite)
- Saving FaceDirected by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Daniel Junge
Two Pakistani women attacked by acid struggle for justice and healing.
2012 winner Academy Award Best Documentary (short subject)
HV6250.4.W65 S38 - Seven Wonders of the Muslim WorldFeatures Grand Mosque in Mecca, Alhambra in Spain's Granada, Great Mosque, Badshshi Mosque.
BP163 .S454 2009
Streaming: Alexander Street and DVD - Silent Waters (Khamosh Pani)Stars: Kiron Kher
Prize winning drama.
Set in Pakistan, in 1979, as the country begins embracing Islamic nationalism.
PN1997 .A8 K436 2004
DVD - Ten DaysFollows two men, a devotional singer and a ritual organizer, through ten days of Ashura festival commemorating martyrdom of Imam Husayn.
BP194.5 .T4 T46 2005
Streaming: Alexander Street and DVD - Train to PakistanSet during the political struggles of 1947, a town on the Punjab between India and Pakistan witnesses and becomes embroiled in the escalating violence between Sikhs and Muslims. Adapted from Khushwant Singh's novel Train to Pakistan. 1998
PN1997 .T7235 2004
Streaming: Alexander Street and DVD