Visions of Development: ─ Films Division of India and the Imagination of Progress 1948-75

Visions of Development examines the Indian state's postcolonial development ideology between Independence in 1947 and the Emergency of 1975- 77. Sutoris pioneers a novel methodology for the study of development thought and its cinematic representations, analyzing films made by the Films Division of India, 1948-75. By comparing these documentaries to late-colonial films on 'progress,' his book highlights continuities with and departures from colonial notions of development in modern India. It is the first scholarly volume to be published on the history of Indian documentary film. Of the approximately 250 documentaries analyzed by Peter Sutoris, many of which have never been discussed in the existing literature, most are concerned with economic planning and industrialization, large dams, family planning, schemes aimed at the integration of tribal peoples (Adivasis) into society, and civic education. Films Division has made all films analyzed in this volume available for free online streaming, which will be accessible through their site as well as a companion website released on publication of the book.

Peter Sutoris, born in Slovakia, is a scholar of film and development, documentary filmmaker and educator. He has lived and worked in South Asia, the Pacific, the Balkans and the Middle East. A History graduate of Dartmouth College, he is currently studying Education at Cambridge University. Visions of Development is his first book.