IndiePix's most controversial documentary attracts full house at International Film Festival

  • Now available on the net for download or shipping
  • Feature-length documentary explores human implications of the struggle for freedom in Indian-occupied Kashmir Valley
  • Written and Directed by Sanjay Kak
  • Note to Editors: Review Copy available

New York, US - 13 February, 2008 - Jashn-e-Azadi (How we celebrate freedom) – one of IndiePix's most thought-provoking and controversial documentaries - was sold-out at the world's largest international documentary festival in Amsterdam. The film, which was written and directed by Indian filmmaker Sanjay Kak, looks at how the struggle for Azadi (freedom) has affected the lives of people in the Kashmir Valley. It is exclusively available on DVD at IndiePix.net, the internet-based distributor of independent films.

A heartfelt narrative through the documentary gives a human voice to the issue of human rights in a conflict that has overshadowed the Kashmir Valley for more than 60 years. Kashmir is claimed by both India and Pakistan, but the clamour of that dispute has silenced the claims made by the Kashmiri people for themselves. In the region described as Indian occupied Kashmir, there are some 700,000 Indian troops, and bunkers and barbed wire line the streets of its towns and villages. Since 1989, 60,000 people have lost their lives and almost 10,000 have disappeared without trace.

The film has already generated strong reactions the world over, with praise for its courageous honesty, as well as outrage from some quarters in India - early last year police stopped several screenings in Mumbai. It is however a beautifully told story of the lives of ordinary people in an extreme situation, which resonates with the images of conflict we all see on our screens from many other zones of conflict.

The film is available from the IndiePix website www.indiepix.net priced from €14.95. Readers can click here to see a trailer of this film.

Filmmaker Sanjay Kak, writer and director of Jashn-e-Azadi, said: "My documentary has come up against some resistance in parts of India - it was even suggested that it is 'glorifying' terrorism and violence. What it is in reality however, is an honest portrayal of how the conflict has affected, and continues to affect, those who live with it, day in and day out. The situation in Kashmir has been likened to Palestine, and even the war in Iraq - but so few people are even aware that it is happening.

"As a consequence of the troubles the film ran into with the Police in Mumbai, all kinds of audiences came to the support of the film - whether it be in India, in the UK, US or Canada. In the months since that controversy there have been more than 140 screenings of the film in India! This amazing ability of people to take on our antiquated censorship rules, by simply screening and watching films, is a growing pattern of resistance in India. The availability of the film for an online download - or actual distribution - will be an integral part of such audience strategies in the future. IndiePix provides filmmakers like myself with the opportunity to reach out to a global audience with films about difficult and controversial issues," concluded Sanjay Kak.

Note to Editors: Free editorial review sample
If you would like to review Jashn-e-Azadi click here and IndiePix will send you a free copy via DVD or emailed directly to your PC.

About IndiePix
IndiePix is the world's leading distributor of critically acclaimed and hard-to-find independent films. The company was set up in 2005 by Bob Alexander and Barnet Lieberman to break down barriers between film-makers and audiences in the global film community through the creation of a world leading shop and online service dedicated to making independent films available to the film community. It is committed to supporting the independent film industry and encouraging the production of more movies - giving 60 per cent of the revenue from each purchase straight to the film-maker. For more information, please visit www.indiepix.net.

Shreekant Pol
Manager of Catalog and Acquisitions
Tel: 212-684-2333
Email: shreekant@indiepix.net

Louise Sambells
The PressOffice - PR for IndiePix
Tel:+44(0)1780 721433
Email: lsambells@pressoffice.targetwire.com

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