Vishnu Mathur (b. 1944)
Hindi director born in Ahmedabad. Graduated from the FTII (1970). Assisted Mani Kaul and Mrinal Sen. Employed by Films Division (1975-8) but resigned over directorial freedom. Feature début, Pehla Adhyay, pioneered a complex and innovative approach to cinematic space and rhythm, also in evidence in his unconventional portrait of the Carnatic veenaplayer Savithri Rajan (Flying Bird). Works in collaboration with noted Tamil writer and feminist intellectual C.S. Lakshmi (aka Ambai).
FILMOGRAPHY: 1969: Wardrobe (Sh); 1970: In Panchgani (Sh); Film Gaze (Doc); 1973: This Our Only Earth (Doc); Small-Scale Industries of India (Doc); Drought in Maharashtra (Doc); President Nyerere’s Visit to India (Doc); 1975: Discipline on the Road (Doc); 1976: Sharing Experience (Doc); Sixth International Film Festival of India (Doc); 1977: Communication Security/Sanchar? Suraksha (Doc); 1978: Surdas (Sh); 1981:Pehla Adhyay; 1983: Towards Zero Population Growth in Kerala (Doc); 1985:Through the Looking Glass (Doc); 1989: The Flying Bird (Doc); 1994: Mere Appa (Sh).