Madhusree Dutta

Madhusree Dutta, is an internationally renowned filmmaker, curator, author, producer, and cultural activist. Her interdisciplinary practice is characterized by an intersectional, research-based approach in which film, performance, curatorial practice, urban studies, contemporary art, feminist criticism, and cultural politics are closely interwoven.

Dutta initially studied economics at Jadavpur University in Kolkata before continuing her education at the National School of Drama in New Delhi. After starting out in theatre as a director for proscenium and street theatre in Kolkata and Mumbai with the Kolkata-based theatre ensemble Anarjya, she has been making documentary films and essayistic and installation-based video works since the early 1990s. Her work deals intensively with urban narratives, migration, religion, violence, memory culture, and feminist and identity politics issues. 

Until 2016, she directed Majlis, a centre for interdisciplinary art initiatives and cultural activism in Mumbai, which she co-founded in 1990. Under her leadership, the institution developed into an important platform for film, art, education, and political discourse in India.

As a curator and researcher, Dutta has initiated and directed numerous international projects, including Project Cinema City: Research, Art and Documentary Practices (2008–12) in Mumbai, a large-scale research and exhibition project on the relationship between cinema and the city, which was presented at the Berlinale in Berlin and at various Indian art institutions, among other venues. In addition, she has realized numerous participatory archival, educational, and research programmes aimed at democratizing cultural practice.

Madhusree Dutta is a founding member of the Academy of the Arts of the World in Cologne, where she served as artistic director until 2021. In this role, she developed public archives and participatory projects on history, urbanism, and transnational cultures of memory.

7 Islands and a Metro, 2006, 100 minutes, Hindi/Urdu/Marathi/English (with English subtitles)
From Here to Here, 2005, 60 minutes, English/Hindi/German (coproduced)
Made in India, 2002, 38 minutes, English/Hindi (museum education version)
Scribbles on Akka, 2000, 90 minutes, English/Hindi (depending on the festival version)
Sundari: An Actor Prepares, 1997, 30 minutes, Hindi
Memories of Fear, 1995, 57 minutes, Hindi
I Live in Behrampada, 1993, 46 minutes, Hindi/Urdu (with English subtitles)

Dutta, Madhusree. How to Make Female Action Heroes. Berlin: Kayfa ta in collaboration with Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art, 2023.
Dutta, Madhusree, and Nanna Heidenreich, eds. Fake Hybrid Sites Palimpsest: Essays on Leakages. Vienna and Cologne: University of Applied Arts Vienna; Academy of the Arts of the World Cologne, Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter, 2022.
Dutta, Madhusree. “Speaking Nearby: Stories of Leakages.” In Fake Hybrid Sites Palimpsest: Essays on Leakages, edited by Madhusree Dutta and Nanna Heidenreich, 17–32. Vienna and Cologne: University of Applied Arts Vienna; Academy of the Arts of the World Cologne, Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter, 2022.
Dutta, Madhusree. “… of Friendship, Solidarity and Dissent.” In Borderline Cases: Documentary Practice between Film and Literature by Merle Kröger and Philip Scheffner, edited by Nicole Wolf. Berlin: Documentary Film Initiative, 2021.
Dutta, Madhusree. “Call It by Any Name … Multikulti to Diversity.” In What We Can Relate To: Interkultur Ruhr 2016–21, edited by Johanna-Yasirra Kluhs, Aurora Rodonò, Fabian Saavedra-Lara, and Nesrin Tanç, 32–39. Essen: Interkultur Ruhr, 2021.

2019 Lifetime Achievement Award, International Documentary & Short Film Festival of Kerala 2019 Cologne Culture Prize “Cultural Manager of the Year”
2012 John Abrahan Best Documentary award (as producer)
2007 Special Jury Award in Film Southasia
2005 HIVOS Culture Award for the Asia region
2001 IDPA Awards for best Kannada film and best Bengali film
1996, 2001 National Film Awards India
(In the wake of nationwide protests against government interference in the arts and
education, Dutta returned her National Awards in 2015.)
1994 Filmfare Award for I Live in Behrampada