Arvind Iyer

Arvind Iyer

Iyer, March 2014
Born Mumbai, India
Education Masters Degree
Alma mater St. Xavier's College, Mumbai
Years active 2005 to 2014
Notable work Drapchi a.k.a. The Nightingale of Tibet
Style Noir, Spiritual[1]
Religion Hindu
Relatives V.R. Krishna Iyer
Website
www.arvindiyer.com

Arvind Iyer is a former filmmaker of Indian origin. His most recent work is the feature film Drapchi a.k.a. The Nightingale of Tibet in the Tibetan and English languages.[2][3] He is a member of Associazione Culturale Roma Independent Film Festival and the Writer's Guild.

A trained practitioner of the Israeli combat and self-defense system Krav Maga, Iyer gave up professional filmmaking in August 2014 to pursue a life in public service and national interest.

Early life

Arvind Iyer was born in Mumbai, India. He is the grandnephew of Padma Vibhushan recipient Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer [4] and V.R. Lakshminarayanan, former Additional Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation, India.[5]

Career

Iyer directed the music video "Paradise Lost" for the Netherlands-based opera singer Namgyal Lhamo in 2008. The video was released on the eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and made its festival debut when it screened in competition at the Asian Hotshots Berlin film festival in January 2009.[6] It also screened at the 2010 Tibet Film Festival in London and received the 2009 Best Music Video Award at the Tibetan Music Awards.[7]

His debut feature film Drapchi, a.k.a. The Nightingale of Tibet, stars Namgyal Lhamo, Joseph Rezwin, Gen Tenzin-la and Chris Constantinou. Written by Indian screenwriter Pooja Ladha Surti, the film is set against the backdrop of conflicts within occupied Tibet. The film features Namgyal Lhamo in the role of "Yiga Gyalnang," a Tibetan opera singer who is abducted and held as a prisoner at the Drapchi Prison in Lhasa before being transported into isolation in a remote underground prison cell.[4]

Shot with clandestine filming techniques, the film is narrated by a fictional army intelligence officer whose role in the film is allegedly inspired by the director's own work with security agencies.[8][9] Ai Weiwei called the film "A sad and moving film that made us realize that the plight of the Tibetan people is the plight of all humankind."[2] Sikyong Lobsang Sangay, Prime Minister of Tibet, said "The manner in which this film has been treated is simple, yet is very potent in depiction. It is a very dignified and restrained interpretation of one woman's struggle to keep her spiritual, cultural and artistic space alive."[10]

References

  1. ↑ Film, House of. "House of Film's Spiritual Cinema Collection=House of Film". Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Post, The Tibet (1 October 2013). "Drapchi – The Nightingale of Tibet". thetibetpost.com. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  3. ↑ Desk, News (10 September 2013). "House of Film acquires Sales Right's to Arvind Iyer's film on Tibet". Dearcinema.com. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Soman, Deepa (10 December 2012). "Filming beyond boundaries". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  5. ↑ Iyer, Krishna (1 January 2004). V.R. Krishna Iyer a Living Legend. Universal Law Publishing. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  6. ↑ Staff (16 January 2009). "Paradise Lost at Berlin festival". CTA News. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
  7. ↑ "Welcome to the Fourth Tibetan Music Awards". Music Tibet. 10 October 2009. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  8. ↑ Desk, News (3 August 2009). "Drapchi – The Nightingale of Tibet". IFFMH. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  9. ↑ Borpujari, Utpal (30 July 2012). "Drapchi – The Review". Dearcinema.com. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  10. ↑ Desk, News (11 March 2013). "Arvind Iyer's film to screen in Rome". tibet.net. Retrieved 17 March 2013.

Further reading

External links