Sparsh Ahuja is an award-winning filmmaker, journalist and National Geographic Explorer based in Melbourne.
His work has exhibited in venues such as The Smithsonian, Victoria & Albert and Asian Art Museums, and featured at Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, MUBI, The New Yorker, TIME, The BBC and Al Jazeera amongst others.
The film premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival as part of the New Frontier program, and opened to glowing reviews in The Economist and The Hindu.
The film takes audiences through a deeply personal perspective of this epic historical event. Two men from the Partition generation — Ishar Das Arora (voiced by Adil Hussain), an Indian Hindu who migrated from Pakistan to India, and Iqbal-ud-din Ahmed (voiced by Salman Shahid), a Pakistani Muslim who made the opposite journey — share childhood memories of their experiences while playing a board game. As the two men unpack their memories, audiences embody the experience of a 7-year-old child at key points in the migration. Child of Empire offers a powerful counter-narrative that lends a fresh perspective on the effects of forced migration on everyday individuals.
The score features an original rendition of Subh-e-Azaadi penned by the Pakistani revolutionary poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz, composed by Vasundhara Gupta and sung by Amira Gill. The percussion is rooted, earthy, warm and represents "Hindustan" culturally. Praveen Sparsh has masterfully arranged and played various percussion instruments, including tabla, ghatam, djembe, bells, etc., which provide a grounded, rooted, and dynamic groove to the entire track. Yuji Nakagawa, from Japan, has played the Sarangi.
Winner: XR History Award
Nominee, Webby Award 2021: “Best VR Headset Experience”
Sundance 2022 (World Premiere)
Sheffield DocFest
Melbourne IFF
Atlanta Film Festival
Venice Gap Financing Market 2020
Production Company: Dastaan Films Pvt Ltd/Anzu Films
Countries of Production: United Kingdom / India