In January 2004 DOX The Documentary Magazine published by EDN (European Documentary Network) brought out its jubilee edition.

" DOX 50 contains essays on 51 of the kind of films that have made an indelible impression on the 51 authors of this publication, and which for some even became a determining factor in how they spent their lives. The authors are filmmakers, critics, festival directors, commissioning editors and film connoisseurs, all of whom are spending their lives making, watching and working for the advancement of the documentary. They were all asked to write about their favourite documentary of all time. "

"Father, Son and Holy War" is reviewed alongside films by Dziga Vertov, Agnes Varda, Joris Ivens, Frederick Wiseman Jean Rouch, Bert Haanstra, Johan van der Keuken, Marcel Ophuls, Luis Bunuel, Robert Flaherty, Alan Resnais, Dujan Makaveyev, Shinsuke Ogawa, Errol Morris, Reena Mohan, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Chris Marker and many others.

In the same issue Anand reviews Patricio Guzman's "The Battle of Chile".

Pitra, Putra aur Dharamyuddha
Father, Son and Holy War
India 1995, 120 min, 16 mm, Colour

Producer/Director, Photography, Editing: Anand Patwardhan, Sound: Sanjiv Shah, Simantini Dhuru, Narinder Singh, Music: Vinay Mahajan, Nav Nirman

Selected Filmography: Anand Patwardhan (India 1950) Business as Usual (1971) Prisoners of Conscience (1978) Bombay, Our City (1985) In Memory of Friends (1990) In the Name of God (1992) Father, Son and Holy War (1995) Occuption: Millworker (1996) War and Peace (2002)











Sato Makoto is a Japanese filmmaker and a professor at The Film School of Tokyo and the Kyoto University of Art and Design, and he has just completed a one-year artist's study programme in London, UK. In 1992 he released his first film Living on the River Agano, which won several international awards. In 1998 he made Artists in Wonderland and in 2001 he made Hanako.



Anand Patwardhan has made a series of socio-political documentaries in India over the last thirty years. In the last fifteen in particular, he has made several documentaries focusing on religious intolerance. The film, In Memory of Friends (1990), highlights class solidarity as an antidote to religious strife in Punjab. The second film, In the Name of God (1992), focuses on the role of 'lower' caste Hindu and liberation theologists fighting against the rise of fundamentalism among Hindus and Muslims in conflict-torn Ayodhya.

Father, Son and Holy War (1994) is the concluding film in this trilogy about religious intolerance. In this film, Anand continues to examine the explosive violence wielded by extremist followers. In the trilogy, his point of view deepens step by step, so that the final film determines the cause of religious intolerance at last. Anand is eager to see through the background of religious conflict to understand the invisible, primary factors of this explosive violence. In so doing, he has unearthed the roots of the fundamentalist cause. It lies in the conventionalisation of religion, particularly in extreme forms of machismo. In order to maintain a sense of masculinity, Hindu and Muslim men resort to unlimited acts of violence. As a result, their male chauvinism leads all the way to large-scale massacres. Anand spent over seven years making this film. He patiently watched a lot of popular propaganda, featuring absurd male chauvinists saying, "Man must be superior to woman in every respect."

At first, we can't help laughing at such a ridiculous male-dominated notion. But by degrees, we can perceive that such ideas are an important factor in this foolish, popular subculture. We recognize this cult of machismo not only as a special case in India, but as a widespread and universal problem. While the shooting span of this film is seven years, its conceptual span is undoubtedly over five thousand years.

Anand Patwardhan has said of his film, "Can notions of manhood be reversed? Was there a time on this planet before patriarchal violence became the norm? It is empowering to conceive of such a possibility in any case." However harsh the reality is, and however hard the solution to this endless cycle of violence, he always wants to look for hope.

Father, Son and Holy War is composed of two parts. The first documents solidarity between the classes as a measure against religious violence by Hindu and Muslim believers. The second focuses on the role of people who promote fundamentalism and the issue of castes. Anand tracked religious problems over fifteen years, so in this film he approaches these issues on a grand scale, reaching back to the origins of history.

Anand still continues to examine religious intolerance and has made one more great film describing another point of view about male-dominated strength. War and Peace (2002) makes clear that the Hindu nationalist government in power has always championed the cause of a 'strong' India armed with the Atom Bomb. Anand can't help seeing the parallels between the competitive nuclear tests of India and Pakistan and the conflict between Hindus and Muslims. In this nuclear crisis there is much ridiculous, popular propaganda demanding masculinity and strength.

Such unchanging religious intolerance sometimes depresses Anand severely, but he never stops filming. Anand Patwardhan keeps on watching the madness unfolding before him. He always wants to be a witness to the tragedy and the cynical comedy of our times. I believe that it's one of the best ways for the documentary filmmaker to take action in the world.

Sato Makoto, Dox 50