Shahid Jamal is a filmmaker, teacher and media consultant with a significant track record of more than 20 years of experience in media and entertainment industry. Shahid has invested his passion in a wide range of works in films & television programmes on various themes, subjects and disciplines ranging from cultural, social to political. His ideation-experimentation on direct cinema, form and style of narrative and fiction is well recognized. He has produced more than 50 documentary films and hundreds of hours of television content.

Shahid was instrumental in launching a Post Graduate Programme in Development Communication at AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia, with a funding from Ford Foundation in 2002.He was founding Co-ordinator and Head of this programme till 2009. He was involved in classroom teaching and television production training, apart from shouldering administrative responsibilities as head of the department for seven years.

Every year, he oversaw 40 budding media professionals work with a similar number of in-house technical and production crew to bring out engaging and socially relevant diploma films, Television & Radio Program Production.

Shahid was Professor and Head of the Department of Media Studies, School of Art Design and Media Studies at Sharda University during 2010-12.

EDUCATIONAL DETAILS:

M.Phil. (Mass media and Medicine- A critical Study of Communication Approaches Towards Health), School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) New Delhi.
M.A. in Mass Communication, Mass Communication Research centre (MCRC), Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

Media and Political Process
Health, Culture and Communication

SELECT FILMOGRAPHY:

Documentaries

Till The Bitter End (74 minutes, Digital, for HRLN, supported by Dan Church & E.U. 2010) Shot in Orissa, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka and 5 more states of the country):A film about how, in the name of caste, India inflicts the worst kind of apartheid on a vast population of Indians despite constitutional guarantees of affirmative actions.

Assassination (48 minutes, Digital for HRLN supported by E.U. & SIDA 2007): Shot across the country in 9 States, the film delves on the various causes of hunger including the role of the state and establishes that the starvation is man made.

The Dawn, a film on Muslim Women’s Initiative, shot in Rajasthan, Karnataka and Delhi. (24 minutes): Produced for IFES-USAID 2008.

Making Cities Inclusive (23 minutes, 2008-9, supported by Swiss Development Agency/SIDA): A film on participatory urban planning.

Citizen’s Reckoning (23 minutes, 2008-09 supported by Swiss Development Agency/SIDA, bilingual): A film on social audit

Leap Forward (23 minutes, bilingual 2008-09): A film on dalit leadership in panchayat, supported by Swiss Development Agency/SIDA.

Peoples Plan (23 minutes, bilingual 2008-09): A film on district planning, supported by Swiss Development Agency/SIDA

Voice of the Valley (7 minutes digital 2006): A film is about a nomadic tribe ‘Van Gujjars’ dwelling in Himalayan region and their communication with the outer world. The film was shown in Geneva in the UN’s session related with Information and Communication Technology.

The Prime Bloom (24 minutes, Beta): A film on the rare and endangered Orchids, documenting the entire process of conservation, cultivation and its propagation in its natural as well as artificial habitat.

The Greening of Management (30 minutes): Produced for the Ministry of Environment & Forests. The film explores Indian corporate management’s response to the challenge of industrial pollution.

Rapid Strides (37 minutes): Produced for the Department of Power, Government of Arunachal Pradesh. It documents Arunachal’s effort to promote small hydel and run-of-the-river projects to generate power in an environment-friendly manner

Khwab Se Khwab Tak (45 minutes) Sahitya Academy/Doordarshan: A documentary film on Urdu Poet Shaharyar of Umrao Jaan fame.

In Situation (45 minutes 1990): Produced for Indian Council for Agricultural Research, the film deals with problems of rain fed agriculture and suggests area-specific solutions (supported by World Bank)

No More A Roving (15 minutes 1990): Produced for Council for Advancement of Peoples Action and Rural Technology (CAPART) and UNICEF. A film on building low-cost sanitary latrines in rural areas.

Toys (23 minutes): A film about child labour, through stories of children working in a toy factory.

Shaping Up (28 minutes): An educational film produced for Indira Gandhi National Open University. The film explained editing distance education material and its difference from editing a film or a newspaper.

Beyond The Hills (25 minutes): Produced for the Department of Rural Development, Government of Arunachal Pradesh. The film focuses upon participation of the rural poor, especially women, as the most vital ingredient of a successful rural development programme.

Bhagidari /The Partnership (18 minutes): Produced for the Department of Rural Development, Government of Arunachal Pradesh, the film is a user-friendly guideline to the various poverty alleviation programmes of the state’s Department of Rural Development.

Diabetic Retinopathy (18 minute): The film deals with the most common ailment of eyes due to diabetes.

Retinal Detachment (18 minutes): The film deals with the preventive and curative aspects of the disease, it provides valuable information regarding its symptoms and the importance of timely treatment.

Fiction and Drama

Cactus In November (8 minutes, 16 mm): A diploma film on Delhi riots of November 1984. The film underlines the agony and alienation of widows after the riots.

Women In Participation (10 minutes, 16 mm): A short film on women emancipation focusing upon the economic compulsions, which demand women to participate more actively. A fictional adaptation based on Harishankar Parsai’s satire. Cast: Irfan Khan, Meeta Vashishth, Bharti Sharma and Aloke Banerjee

Megh Leela (25 minutes): An experimental fiction in Nautch style. Produced for FICCI & USAID and in association with repertoire of the legendry theatre personality HABIB TANVIR.

Gaddha (40 minutes): A television adaptation of the famous writer Krishan Chander’s play Gaddha

Sanjh Ki Parchaiyan (24 minutes): A short fiction on Alzheimer and related disorders.

Television Series

Awadh - A Legacy (22 episodes): A television series on Social and Cultural History of Awadh during the Nawabs and the British era.Aired on DD-Bharati

Tum Yaad Aaye – (13 episodes): A talk show hosted by actor Farrukh Shaikh, it captured memories of famous personalities from India and Pakistan who crossed over to the other side during partition. (BBT-Lahore)

Making of An Artist - (16 episodes): A series of oeuvre, technique and craft of painting.(DD)

Kal Aur Ayenge (24 episodes): A nationwide reality show shot in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi that provided a platform to upcoming Urdu poets.(Enadu TV)

Aisa Bhi Hota Hai (12 episodes): A talk show on the participation of women in issues concerning the Muslim women. (Enadu TV)

Ankahi (32 episodes): A talk show that gave voice to the plight of women in their relationship with men in both personal and professional domain. (Enadu TV)

Corporate & Promotional Films

A Definite Edge (7 minutes): Produced for India’s premier Business School, the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow (IIML).

An Interface (7 minutes): Produced for Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow.

PAMSKI (a global trading company) 9 minutes.

UTL (a Banglore based global IT company) 7 minutes.

SPECS (a Hyderabad based global defence equipment company) 7 minute

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION:

In 2009, his film Assassination was nominated for the Grand Prix de Geneve, at Geneva. On this occasion, in September 2009, he participated in the Round Table on “How to Communicate Against Hunger” organized by the Forum International Medias Nord Sud, Geneva.

Special Invitee to Third Dhaka International Film Festival 1994-95

Special Invitee to 25th Forum International Medias Nord Sud, Geneva, 2009

His documentary works have been screened at various national and international film festivals, academic institutions and the public forum like World Social Forum, Harvard University, STV-1 (Sweden), ITV-UK.