SPARSH AHUJA
Sparsh Ahuja is an award-winning filmmaker and National Geographic Explorer working primarily in animation and documentary. His work explores themes of migration and belonging, and has featured in MUBI, The New Yorker, TIME, The BBC, Al Jazeera, NOWNESS ASIA, NOEMA and The Economist.
Sparsh’s documentary short, “Birdsong”, premiered at SXSW 2023, was shortlisted for the Grierson, IDA and BIFA Awards, and was acquired by The Guardian as a Vimeo Staff Pick. His VR Film, “Child of Empire” - financed through the Venice Biennale Gap Financing Market - premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2022, played Sheffield DocFest, and MIFF, and won the inaugural XR History Award from the Korber-Stiftung Foundation in Hamburg. Sparsh is currently in development on his directorial debut, “Fear and Loathing in Kathmandu”, funded by VicScreen.
In 2023, Sparsh was one of the 12 factual producers selected for VicScreen and Screen Australia’s “Originate Factual” incubator. In 2024, his reporting on Indigenous land rights disputes was a finalist for the LA Press Club Award.
Sparsh’s work has toured institutions such as The Victoria and Albert Museum, BFI Southbank, and ForumDesImages in Paris, and has been supported by the British Council, Australia Council for the Arts, Doc Society, Ford Foundation, Ian Potter Cultural Trust, and the CatchLight Fellowship amongst others.
Sparsh currently works as a Development Producer for Dreamchaser Entertainment in Melbourne, Australia.
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BACK | CHILD OF EMPIRE
Funded by Catchlight, CreativeXR - Arts Council England/Digital Catapult, BFI/Doc Society, and Unity for Humanity.
Winner,
XR History Award
Nominee, Webby Award 2021,
“Best VR Headset Experience”
Official Selections:
Sundance 2022 (World Premiere)
Sheffield DocFest
Melbourne IFF
Atlanta Film Festival
Human Rights Film Festival Berlin
Jio MAMI VR Section 2023
NewImages Paris
Venice Film Festival Gap Finance Market 2020
Child of Empire is an animated virtual reality (VR) docu-drama experience which immerses viewers in one of the largest forced migrations in human history: the 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan.
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.
Production Company:
Dastaan Films Pvt Ltd/Anzu Films
Countries of Production: United Kingdom / India