Youtube has become one of the most popular and easily accessible medium for viewing documentary films which otherwise did not find the same audience as feature films.
Over the years, many documentaries made on the Kashmir issue, with the idea to present important narratives and experiences ignored by the mainstream media, have been published on youtube.
Here is a list of eight documentary films made on the Kashmir issue which you can view on Youtube .
1. Jashn e Azadi
This is documentary has a runtime of two hours which makes it the longest documentary in this list. It is uploaded in two parts (an hour each) and is directed & written by Sanjay Kak.
The documentary meticulously deals with the narratives of the Kashmir conflict, with extensive use of archival footage from the nineties and interviews of victims of the conflict, with agonising accounts.
2. Kashmir 1990
This is rather a news report, in classic documentary style. Uploaded by Mrityunjoy Kumar Jha, a veteran journalist who worked for TV Today with narration by Manoj Ragvanshi.
It surely has overtones of a biased narrative which the mainstream Indian Media nowadays vigorously tends to use, but it is essential viewing nonetheless. The film has many interesting bytes given by popular leaders of Kashmir at the time of advent of the armed militancy.
3. Paradise Lost
The BBC documentary written and narrated by prolific journalist Mark Tully is an example of objective reportage on Kashmir. It talks about Kashmir as a disputed territory and how the political affairs between India and Pakistan has affected the people of the valley. If the question ‘What is Kashmir issue’ bothers you, this will surely fetch you some answers.
4. Kashmir – Valley of Tears
Shot in april 2002 by Australian production house Journeyman pictures, this film looks at the post nineties exhaustion and an atmosphere of abominable lull in the valley.
The interview of a common houseboat owner Hamid Khankashi in this documentary film depicts the frustration of a common Kashmiri at the time of the making of the film.
5. Inshallah Kashmir
The film seeks to look at why a Kashmiri is so angry? Why is there dissent and rage against the state and its forces?
Watch this documentary and it will fetch you some answers. Directed by Ashwin Kumar it is a first hand account of gruesome torture, testimonies of grave human rights violations and terror tales of lost loved ones.
6. Kashmir Uprising 2010, as witnessed by photojournalists
Whenever a crucial incident takes place, photojournalists in Kashmir rush to the place, working collectively to document the event. This trend of photojournalists working as a pack, and working as a collective unit of documentation started in the 2010.
This documentary looks at how these journalist cover and survive a conflict, many times being victims themselves.
With no narration, the raw visuals from the 2010 uprising, this documentary film shows the efforts of local photojournalists to perform their professional duties. It is uploaded by Khaleel Media in 4 parts.
7. Kashmir – Inside A Friday Protest by Chase
Produced by Scoopwhoop, this documentary takes a peak into the post Friday prayer protests held at Jamia Masjid in Downtown.
It shows the psyche of the angry Kashmiri stone-pelters who are pushed to the wall by the prolonged dispute, to the extent that they put their lives on the line, to display their dissent against the state.
8. In the shade of fallen chinar
During the nineties the movement in Kashmir could not effectively integrate itself with art.
But two decades down the line, art asserted and tried to find a place in the resistance movement. How some kids born in the nineties took up different art forms to express themselves and how the conflict affected their perception of art is brilliantly documented in this film.
This list in not absolute.
Send your suggestions for films to be included in the list at [email protected]