WHO WE ARE
Established through a tripartite partnership between PSBT, the Ford Foundation and Prasar Bharati in 2000, we are a significant stakeholder in the independent documentary movement in India, producing over 52 independent documentaries a year.
To create and sustain a credible space for story telling through the moving image, which is independent, participatory, pluralistic and democratic, distanced from commercial imperatives and state/ political pressures.
OUR MISSION
WHAT WE DO
We commission and mentor films driven by personal passion and social relevance, enlarging the scope of documentary practice and its potential for affecting change.
We empower people to work in partnership with us and tell the stories they wish to, democratising the production and consumption of visual media.
We enhance public discourses on socio-political realities and provide filmmakers the impetus to engage with their art, creativity, politics and philosophies.
In addition to independent filmmakers, we work in partnership with not-for-profits to develop films for their non-commercial use, to strengthen their civil society interventions.
PSBT is deeply committed to respecting the autonomy and independence of its filmmakers, striving to nuance and enrich both, the process of filmmaking and the films.
The systems we adopt for commissioning and the films we produce are an embodiment of India’s diversities and our commitment to celebrating and sustaining them.
We actively seek proposals from all over the country with the aim of fair and equitable representation to the regional and linguistic diversity of India.
Given the marginalisation of women’s voices in the public domain, supporting women filmmakers is a priority, and therefore, 50 per cent of our films are made by women.
We encourage young and starting out talent to work with us. 68 per cent of the filmmakers who work with us are first-time filmmakers for PSBT.
We adopt a robust mentoring process that provides film makers a supportive and congenial context in which to explore their ideas and creativity.
HOW WE DO IT
OUR IMPACT
Films selected by juries around the world, with over 1960 film festival selections. Critical success despite very modest budgets – an award for every 2 films, with a total of 347 awards. 54 National Film Awards from the President.
PSBT Films are telecast every week on the national public broadcaster – Doordarshan – and its associate channels; regularly telecast on Lok Sabha Television and occasionally on NDTV24x7. In the past, they have been on Channel 4, BBC, Discovery, Arte, EBS (Korea), Estonia TV, The Epic Channel and India Today.