Stalin K Presents: India Untouched

India Untouched

2007, 108 min.

This award-winning documentary is the most comprehensive look at the “untouchables” in India. Motivated by ancient religious edicts, no amount of governmental encouragement has been able to stem the tragic custom that separates human beings according to their birth. Those considered untouchable suffer more than isolation, they are forced to fulfill menial tasks in their communities, drink from separate containers, remove their shoes on the street as a sign of respect and perform or exhibit many other outward signs of their perceived inferiority. While the media projects a positive image of a democratic India, filmmaker Stalin K spends four years traveling the country to expose the continued oppression of the Dalits, “the broken people,” in a wide variety of communities, including Sikhs, Christians and Muslims.

Stalin K is a human rights activist and award-winning documentary filmmaker. In recent years, he has become known for his pioneering ‘community media’ work with urban and rural communities, in which local people produce their own videos and radio programs as an empowerment tool.  He is the Director of Video Volunteers, a media and human rights organization.  He is a renowned public speaker and has lectured or taught at over 20 institutions ranging from the National Institute of Design and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in India, to New York University and Stanford and Berkeley in the US.