Ep. 276 - “The Promise” documentary making with Jan Schmidt Garre (Part 2)

Welcome back to Part 2. We were in conversation with Jan Schmidt Garre, film maker, producer and founder of PARS MEDIA. They make high-quality documentaries and feature films with a focus on classical music, dance, and the fine arts.

In the previous episode, we spoke about “Making a documentary” and in this, we speak about his latest Documentary on Late Ar. B.V.Doshi called the “The Promise – Architect BV Doshi”.

Questions

1. You have made 2 documentaries in the East. What fascinates you about the East, about India?
2. What makes you make films of Design, art, dance and such creative expressions. Why did you consider architecture to be part of art as a film maker?
3. What is “The Promise – Architect BV Doshi”? How did the idea of documenting him come about?
4. How did you discover Doshi’s and what drew you closer to him?
5. There has been so much documentation on Doshi. What is your narrative in the film?
6. In your interview with Ritupriya Basu, you said, “Doshi’s architecture must not be shown silently.” How did you manage to show the interactions between the architecture and their inhabitants?
7. Whats the most enriching moment during your interaction with the legend and making of the film?
8. I also happened to interview Doshi on Audiogyan. Every word he says is magical. Very difficult to cut things as they are lyrical and rhythmic. How did you go about editing this film. Seems like the toughest part of the adventure
9. What was your biggest learning and takeaways from the experience? Can you share any anecdotes or experiences of chatting with him, going on a spiritual journey with so beautiful metaphors and explaining the most complex things with love.
10. When are you showing the film in India? How can people watch it?

Reference links

• https://www.parsmedia.com
• https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jan_schmidtgarre
• https://www.instagram.com/janschmidtgarre/
• https://www.delage-artists.com/en/artist/jan-schmidt-garre/biography/
• https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0773272/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Schmidt-Garre