The uniqueness of documentary filmmaking is the possibility of recording events unfolding along the perimeter of the subject. That's where this film was born. With tears and with the loss of a very dear friend, Wasted was conceived. Ancient agrarian India believed nothing is waste. No Indian vernaculars have a word for waste. It came as a concept with the industrial revolution, borne by the colonial history onto an ancient agrarian culture. Waste has become a currency of development now. Wasted is a personal accord vis-à- vis India and the mountain of waste it produces as a global economic giant. Also, looking back at me as a documentary filmmaker and the waste I produce to make my films, the film tries to look back at material I shot for my previous films and tries to use them as found footage.
Anirban Datta, Born in 1975, in Kolkata, started his career as a screenwriter before he joined Satyajit Ray Film & TV Institute (SRFTI), as a student of Direction & Screenplay Writing. His short documentary film Here is my nocturne (2004), part of SRFTI, was screened in major Indian film festivals. Tetris, his diploma film from SRFTI in 2006, was premiered in Cannes’06 as an official selection and traveled to other important international festivals. Chronicle of an Amnesiac, made for the Japanese public broadcaster NHK in 2007, been his first film after SRFTI, received prestigious Rajat Kamal — Special Jury Award, 55th Indian National Film Awards for the year 2007. The film has also received prestigious John Abraham National Award for best documentary in SIGNS’07, Kerala, India. He has also served as a jury member, non-feature section, for Indian National Film Awards 2008. .in for motion is his second film tracing India’s recent growth after the economic liberalization and the information revolution vis-à-vis its effect on Indian populace. A co-production with Steps India and YLE Finland, the film received Jan Vrijman Fund and premiered in IDFA’08, Amsterdam. The film won prestigious Rajat Kamal Best film on environment, Indian National Film Awards 2009. .in for motion was screened in 54th Dok-Leipzig. Wasted, a 52 min documentary on waste and recycling is his most recent directorial work. He has also produced a two hour-long documentary called BOM a.k.a. One day ahead of democracy, directed by Amlan Datta, a co-production with NHK, Sandance documentary fund, Jan Vrijman. Bom also received Rajat Kamal, in National Film Awards 2011. He has taught as asst. professor, Direction Dept, for a year in Film & Television Institute of India, Pune. He is also working as a visual & installation artist with Performers Independent for for last couple of years and has collective shows with galleries such as Studio 21, a studio under CIMA Art Gallery, Kolkata. He has participated in a multi-discipline art collective for Khoj International Artists’ Association, and Vasudha Art Festival Bhubaneshwar in 2014.