Documenting hidden apartheid in the Indian diaspora

Mandrika Rupa

doi:10.24135/pjr.v30i1and2.1340

Mandrika Rupa Independent documentary maker, Auckland

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24135/pjr.v30i1and2.1340

Keywords: apartheid, caste system, diaspora, discrimination, documentary, Fiji, filmmaking, India, journalism, New Zealand, South Pacific

Abstract

Commentary: This article provides an account of an independent filmmaker’s work in documenting some of the stories from the global Indian diaspora. Based in Aotearoa New Zealand, with ancestral connections to Fiji, East Africa, UK, US and India, and using documentary making with both its journalistic and artistic purposes, the author firstly refers to the literatures that identifies documentary-making as journalism, diaspora, and the caste system. She then situates herself within the South Pacific Indian diaspora, before describing her experience in the making of the documentary entitled Hidden Apartheid: A Report on Caste Discrimination. The article concludes by reflecting on her role and the role of documenting hidden discrimination where it exists throughout Indian communities of the diaspora.

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Author Biography

Mandrika Rupa, Independent documentary maker, Auckland

Mandrika Rupa is an Aotearoa New Zealand based film maker and community worker who emigrated from India as a child. Her work has been recognised at Films de Femmes, Creteil, France, The London Film Festival, and the New Film Festival, New York. Her work is in the permanent collection and distributed by MoMA (Museum of Modern Art, New York).

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