When Stories Find Their Way: Mithun Pramanik on Finding His Path as a Filmmaker
Mithun Pramanik, a One World Media Fellow and Global Short Docs Forum alum, reflects on his journey as a filmmaker, exploring how he has navigated uncertainty and charted a professional path forward.
When I first came to know about One World Media, I was at a crossroads in my filmmaking journey. I am a self-taught filmmaker from India, with very little exposure to the international documentary world. Although I had managed to produce a few commissioned short stories for BBC, Al Jazeera, DW and CNA, I often felt unsure about how to move forward professionally as a filmmaker. I had stories I believed in, but didn’t have a clear sense of how to develop them, pitch them, or find collaborators who could help take them further. What drew me to One World Media was a quiet hope at a time when I was working mostly alone.
Being selected for the Global Short Docs Forum in 2023 for my film, A Scientist Who Runs at Night, and receiving a fellowship the same year for another film, Little Big Dreams, felt like a breakthrough after years of trying to complete these projects. A Scientist Who Runs at Nightfollows 85-year-old scientist Professor Sujoy Kumar Guha, who has spent nearly 50 years developing the world’s only reversible male contraceptive drug.
My fellowship project, Little Big Dreams, is about India’s only all-dwarf theater group, capturing the intensity of their struggles, hopes, despair, and dreams. Both films were in their production stages, and I had nearly given up on finding funding after years of trying. One World Media arrived at exactly the right time. It became the first platform that not only believed in my ideas but also gave me the confidence that I had been missing.
The mentorship sessions were invaluable, offering me a diversity of perspective that helped me shape my films with greater clarity, as well as how to prepare a pitch, create a budget, manage international collaborations, and understand the global documentary landscape. The feedback sessions were rigorous but generous. That guidance stayed with me throughout the final stages of post-production.
Through One World Media, I secured a commission from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for A Scientist Who Runs at Night, which is now available on CBC Gem and their YouTube channel The Nature of Things. My fellowship film Little Big Dreams is also streaming on the SIMA Academy. I genuinely believe that without One World Media, the film would not have been possible to complete, and it would not have found the life it has today.
The connections I made with fellow filmmakers from around the world were equally important. Looking back, One World Media didn’t just support me to complete the films; it reshaped me as a filmmaker. Support which continued long after the programmes had ended. After my film A Scientist Who Runs at Night was released on CBC, I organized several impact screenings at universities and public forums with One World Media’s guidance. One notable screening which took place in Agra and was attended by mostly doctors and civil society groups. After the screening, there was a lot of media interest in the film and also the drug RISUG. Soon after, doctors and activists started a petition urging the government to approve the drug, collecting over 2,000 signatures. The film helped spark conversations and awareness about male contraception. It had an impact far beyond what I had imagined.
To this new cohort of fellows, I would say this: nurture the relationship with your contributors and stay committed to the story you truly want to tell. The independent documentary space is changing and becoming more challenging, but trust that your story could have a life of its own – One World Media simply helps you bring it into being.
