Biju Toppo

Biju Toppo is an anthropological and national award-winning tribal documentary filmmaker from Ranchi, Jharkhand.[1] He uses film as a medium for social activism on behalf of marginalized indigenous communities, and teaches video production at St. Xaviers College, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India. He belongs to the ethnic group Kurukh of India.[2]

Biju Toppo
Biju Toppo in the United States, in 2018.
Born(1969-01-20)20 January 1969
Mahuadanr, Latehar district, Jharkhand, India
NationalityIndian
Alma materSt. Xavier's College, Ranchi
OccupationDirector, Producer, Video-Editor, Cinematographer
Years active1990–present
Notable work
Naachi Se Baanchi, Iron is Hot, The Hunt, Gadi Lohardaga Mail, Jharia, Kora Rajee
Children3
Honours59th National Film Awards & 65th National Film Awards

Introduction

Biju Toppo and Meghnath Bhattacharya belong to AKHRA, a film production house working in the field of culture and communication in Jharkhand, India. Akhra is a pioneering group that has been making films on indigenous peoples' issues since 1995. Its many award-winning films have taken up burning issues relevant to indigenous people's survival in India. On 9 September 2011, the duo Meghnath and Biju Toppo were awarded the prestigious National Film Award by the President of India at a ceremony held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.[3]

Filmography
Year Film Director Producer Editor Language Notes
1996 Saheed Jo Anjan Rahe Biju Toppo AKHRA Biju Toppo Hindi Saheed Jo Anjan Rahe (Unknown Martyrs), is a film about the brutal massacre of the indigenous persons on 19 April 1985, in which a former Member of Parliament named Fr. Anthony Murmu and fourteen others were killed in Banjhi, Sahebganj district of Jharkhand over a minor pond dispute at Banjhi. It is often termed as "Banjhi Massacre".[4]
1997 Ek Hadsa Aur Bhee Biju Toppo AKHRA Biju Toppo Hindi Ek Hadsa Aur Bhee (Yet Another Accident) is a film about a controversial dam incident in August 1997 which took place in Palamu district of Jharkhand. In order to silence the villagers’ protests against the construction of the Kutku-Mandal Dam, the temporary /sluice gate of the dam was shut. Thirty-two nearby villages were submerged overnight in the resulting floods, and approximately 1100 families were affected. Twenty-one people drowned, a large number of animals died and a lot of people’s property and goods were destroyed.[5]
1998 Jaha Chinti Ladi Hathi Se (Where Ants are Fighting Elephants) About indigenous peoples’ struggle against bauxite mining.
2000 Hamare Gaon Me Hamara Raj Biju Toppo Biju Toppo Biju Toppo Hindi Hamare Gaon Me Hamara Raj (Tribal Self Rule) is a film on Panchayati Raj Extension in Scheduled Areas Act 1996. The film deals with the Grama Sabha movement.
2003 Vikas Bandook Ki Nal Se Biju Toppo and Meghnath AKHRA Raja Hindi Vikas Bandook Ki Nal Se (Development Flows from the Barrel of the Guns) is a film which presents and examines orchestrated state violence against indigenous and local peoples when they rally and protest against development projects on their lands. Rather than focusing on a single instance, the filmmakers strengthen their thesis by recording examples from all over the country: Orissa, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh. In each case, using the local police force, the state has brutalised and killed protestors, often on trumped-up charges of violence.
2004 From Kalinga to Kashipur On the people’s struggle against an aluminium factory in Kashipur block of Koraput district in Orissa.
2005 Kora Rajee Biju Toppo Kurukh Kora Rajee (The land of the diggers) is the first film in Kurukh, a tribal language. The film is on the issue of Adivasi labourers in the tea-garden communities of Assam and Bengal.
2007 Khorar desher joler kotha (Story of water from the land of drought) On best practices of preservation and use of water in Purulia a drought-prone district of West-Bengal.
Power for change Is on use alternative development in rural Orissa especially on the use of Micro-Hydel power.
2009 100 Din Milega Kaam (100 days of work for you) It is a film on the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act that promises to provide 100 days of work in the rural area and what is the ground reality.
2010 Loha Garam Hai (Iron is hot) Biju Toppo and Meghnath AKHRA Biju Toppo Hindi It is on the issue of the sponge iron industry and its pollution and how people are trying to cope with it.
Gadi Lohardaga Mail Biju Toppo and Meghnath AKHRA B. Ajit Hindi and Jharkhand folk songs Nostalgic songs on the narrow gauge. Lohardaga passenger train which became history in January 2004.
Ek Ropa Dhan It is a film on the SRI method of rice cultivation, that explains how productivity can be increased by just changing the process of cultivation.
Mukta Gyana Kutir It is a film on alternative education for tribal girls who were dropout from regular schools. In the remote area of Orissa.
2011 Sona Gahi Pinjra Biju Toppo Kurukh Sona Gahi Pinjra (The Golden Cage) is a film in Kurukh language which portrays about those people who desire to participate in their village festivals but are deprived because of their job. The film depicts how mobile phone becomes the living link in this situation.
2015 Taking Side Biju Toppo and Meghnath Forum of Religious Biju Toppo and Deepak Bara Hindi and English For centuries people have laid down their life taking side with the oppressed. This film is the story of Sr. Valsa John. She was born in Kerala and worked for the Adivasi of Jharkhand. She leads the struggle against coal mining and laid down her life.
Accumulated Injustice Biju Toppo and Meghnath AKHRA Biju Toppo Hindi Adivasi people’s living condition on the dark side of Rourkela Steel Plant.
The Hunt Biju Toppo Rajiv Mehrotra, Ridhima Mehra and Tulika Srivastava Deepak Bara English & Hindi Today, our Government thinks Maoist is a major threat to internal security. They want to eliminate them from the red corridor as Maoist is a hindrance to secure the mineral resources of these areas for the corporate partners. Tribal who are fighting to save their ancestral land, are branded as Maoist. The Film ‘The Hunt’ explores the lives of the people sandwiched between Maoist and the State.
2017 Naachi Se Baanchi (Those who dance will survive) Biju Toppo and Meghnath Films Division of India Amit Bahadur Hindi In his lifetime itself Dr Ram DayalMunda has become a symbol of indigenous cultural reawakening.Ram DayalMunda was the leading intellectual who has contributed to Jharkhand movement immensely. Dr Munda has represented Adivasi voices in RajyaShabha and United Nations. He has been awarded Sahitya Academy Award and Padmashree in 2009. He passed away in September 2011.
2018 Mundari Srishtikatha Tuhin Paul Meghnath Rupesh Hindi Unlike us, our children have missed the opportunity to hear folklore from their elders. Folklore helps and give us dignity and self-esteem and is helpful in building our personality. This is AKHRA's humble effort to narrate the creation of myths. These stories were created thousands of years ago when is science was not as developed as it is today. So we must enjoy them, but always keep a scientific approach to life.
Jharia (The Spring) Biju Toppo Public Service Broadcasting Trust Rupesh Sahu Hindi It’s a film about an eighty-five-year-old man, Simon Oraon, The Water Man from Jharkhand who has been working relentlessly on water management and environmental protection in the villages of Jharkhand since he was fourteen.

Awards
List of awards conferred on films made by Biju Toppo
Year Awards Awarding body Film Refs.
2004 Travelling Film Southasia (TFSA) Travelling Film Southasia (TFSA) Vikas Banook Ki Nal Se (Development Flows from the Barrel of the Guns) [6]
2005 Vatavaran Star Award for Best Documentary CMS Vatavaran [7]
2006 Second Best Documentary Film / Video Mumbai International Film Festival Kora Rajee (The land of the diggers) [8]
2009 Best Environmental Film Award Indian Documentary Producers’ Association (IDPA) Loha Garam Hai (Iron is Hot) [9]
2010 58th National Film Awards Directorate of Film Festivals [10]
Silver Medal Indian Documentary Producers’ Association (IDPA) Ek Ropa Dhan [11]
58th National Film Awards Directorate of Film Festivals [12]
2011 Best Short Film Award International Folk Music Film Festival, Nepal Gadi Lohardaga Mail [13]
2015 Special Jury Award CMS Vatavaran Environment and Wildlife Film Festival The Hunt[14] [15]
2016 Best Documentary Award International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala [16]
International Film Festival of Shimla [17]
Cinema of Resistance SiGNS Festival, Kerala [18]
2017 Golden Bodhisattva Award Bodhisattva International Film Festival in Patna [19]
2018 65th National Film Awards Directorate of Film Festivals Naachi se Baanchi [20]
Jury Mention Award Mumbai International Film Festival [21]
Special Jury Documentary International Film Festival of Shimla [22]

References
  1. "Reel stint for special learners - Film-maker duo pick 15 from Ranchi for video training". The Telegraph. 24 March 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  4. "Remembering a dark chapter". The Telegraph.
  5. "Jharkhand dam resurrected despite past bloodshed". The Third Pole.net.
  6. "EKTA - Travelling Film Festival Southasia". Travelling Film Southasia (TFSA).
  7. "CMS Vatavaran 2005 Award Winners". CMS Vatavaran.
  8. "MIFF'2006 Award Winning Films". Mumbai International Film Festival.
  9. "The iron is hot". India Together.
  10. "Film on rice harvests silver - Mumbai documentary body to fete state filmmaker duo". The Telegraph.
  11. "Awards haul for reel duo". The Telegraph.
  12. "Film on rice harvests silver - Mumbai documentary body to fete state filmmaker duo". The Times of India.
  13. "Nostalgia Mail is a festival winner - Short film about Lohardaga's one-time lifeline feted in Nepal". The Telegraph.
  14. "The Hunt". PSBT.
  15. "'Hunted' & awarded". The Telegraph.
  16. "Adivasi filmmaker wins best short documentary award in '9th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala'". Adivasi Resurgence.
  17. "MIFF'2006 Award Winning Films". International Film Festival of Shimla.
  18. "Archive 2016 SiGNS". SiGNS Festival, Kerala.
  19. "'Hunted' & awarded". The Telegraph.
  20. "An exemplary Adivasi". The Statesman.
  21. "An exemplary Adivasi". Scroll.in.
  22. "An exemplary Adivasi". International Film Festival of Shimla.
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