Education
Having finished his Doctor of Philosophy coursework in Cinema and Media studies at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) he began work on his first feature-length film Unfreedom: Blemished Light.
Having finished his Doctor of Philosophy coursework in Cinema and Media studies at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) he began work on his first feature-length film Unfreedom: Blemished Light.
He founded Dark Frames with the commitment to bring out stories that speak of "unfreedom" in human life. He has also been awarded by the National Scholarship of India for Academic Excellence, and a First Prize in Faculty Screenwriting Award at University Film and Video Association (UFVA) 2009. He is also a media academic, teacher, and writer
He has taught cinema theory and history at both his alma maters, City University of New York and Southern Illinois University Carbondale, between the years 2005 to 2009.
His writings and research papers have been published and presented at various conferences as well. In India, his debut feature Unfreedom was refused certification by the Examining Committee.
A revising committee of the Censor Board proposed cuts to the director which he refused and appealed against the Censor Board"s demand for cuts to the Indian Government"s Information and Broadcasting Appellate Tribunal FCAT. In response to his appeal, the authorities completely banned the film regardless of cuts, robbing Kumar of any opportunity to publicly release the film in India. Raj Amit Kumar is now fighting censorship and going to the High Court.
Recently, the news of banning has gained widespread coverage in the media, bringing other filmmakers in the fight against Censorship.
He graduated with a Masters of Arts in Cinema and Media Studies from College of Staten Island (City University of New York) in 2006 where he received the George Custen Memorial Award for Academic Excellence. National Film Awards winner Hari Nair is the cinematographer of the film. Academy Award winner Resul Pookutty has done the Sound Design and Original Music Score is by Filmfare Awards winner Wayne Sharpe and Jesse Kotansky. The script for this film won the first prize in the 2009 Faculty Screenwriting Competition at University Film and Video Association.
Unfreedom, a socio-political drama is his first feature film. In a recent interview, Victor Banerjee commended Raj Amit Kumar for his approach to sex and violence in this film, which were an essential part of the story and screenplay even though he has usually condemned the vulgarity with which these are approached in mainstream cinema.
