Sanjay Rawal

Sanjay Rawal (born October 30, 1974) is an Indian-American documentary film director who lives in New York City. His first feature length film Food Chains premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in its Culinary Cinema Programme in 2014 [1] and had its US premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.[2] Food Chains was produced by Smriti Keshari, Eva Longoria, Eric Schlosser, and Rawal himself. Forest Whitaker narrates.[3] Rawal was a winner of the 2015 James Beard Foundation Award for Special/Documentary for Food Chains.[4] The film itself shared the 2016 BritDoc Documentary Impact Award.[5]

Rawal's second movie 3100: Run and Become was released in 2018. The film was featured on a number of podcasts including Dr. Rangan Chatterjee. “Running unites us. At one point, every culture on Earth relied on running. It’s baked into our DNA,” Rawal said.[6] The film received generally positive reviews including by Kimber Myers of the Los Angeles Times. "Rawal's well-shot film is engaging - particularly for those with an interest in running and/or meditation," she wrote.[7] Critic Pamela Powell went further, writing "3100: Run and Become beautifully captures the heart and inspiration of all who close their eyes, take a breath, and open their hearts to life."[8]

Rawal's third film, Gather, was released straight-to-digital in September 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. It received a New York Times Critic's Pick selection. Reviewer Lovia Gyarkye wrote, "The film wonderfully weaves personal stories with archival footage that contextualizes the continued violence against Native Americans. Rawal covers a substantial amount of ground and deftly balances the dense material without losing sight of the mission driving the bigger story: Healing from generational trauma sometimes starts with just one person." The film counted Jason Momoa as an Executive Producer.[9] Mr. Momoa promoted the film on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.[10] The film was awarded a James Beard Foundation Media Award on June 12, 2022, making Rawal a rare two-time winner.[11]

Rawal was raised in northern California, where his father is a tomato breeder, and so Rawal was introduced to the agricultural industry at a young age.[12] He began Food Chains in 2011, after witnessing the inequality in the fields of Florida.[13] In March 2016, Rawal was thanked by the Bernie Sanders campaign for the licensing of related video footage used in the Sanders' advertisement titled "Tenemos Familias."[14] Rawal has advocated against the power of large food monopolies and has pushed local, labor-friendly solutions to human rights abuses in the fields.[15]

Rawal's second short documentary film, Challenging Impossibility, premiered at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival[16] and played in nearly 70 more.[17] It won awards at several film festivals including at the Atlanta Shortsfest.[18] His first film of any kind Ocean Monk won the Best Documentary Short Award at the 2010 St. Louis International Film Festival.[19]

Prior to becoming a filmmaker, Rawal was deeply involved with international development and ran projects in over 40 nations.[20] He worked on projects with celebrities like Wyclef Jean[21] and Donna Karan.[22] Rawal was also engaged in activism regarding peace, security, and women's issues—serving on the first men's committee for V-Day.[23]

Much of his work has been inspired by his spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy[20] and he has edited and published books by this leader—including America the Beautiful,[24] which was read as an audiobook by Richard Dreyfuss[25] as well as Guru Marathon, published by District Vision.[26]

Sanjay is also a national-class Master's long-distance runner. He was first in the US half-marathon championship in 2023 for the Men's 45-49 category.[27]

References

  1. ^ "Berlin: Eva Longoria-Produced 'Food Chains' to Screen in Culinary Cinema Section". The Hollywood Reporter. 2014-01-20. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  2. ^ "Tribeca Talks® After the Movie: Food Chains | 2014 Tribeca Film Festival". Archived from the original on 2014-07-27. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  3. ^ Rawal, Sanjay (2014-04-26), Food Chains (Documentary), Eve Ensler, Barry Estabrook, Dolores Huerta, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Illumine Group, Two Moons Production, retrieved 2020-10-26
  4. ^ James Beard Foundation, / The 2015 Book, Broadcast, and Journalism Awards: Complete Winner Recap Archived 2020-10-20 at the Wayback Machine, James Beard Foundation, April 24, 2015
  5. ^ "Chasing Ice, CITIZENFOUR, Food Chains, Miners Shot Down, and Virunga win the 2016 Doc Impact Award | Compton Foundation". www.comptonfoundation.org. Retrieved 2017-11-10.
  6. ^ "Sanjay Rawal On Running As Spiritual Practice". Rich Roll. 3 September 2018. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  7. ^ "Reviews: Animated drama 'Liz and the Blue Bird,' plus 'Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland' and more documentaries". Los Angeles Times. 2018-11-08. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  8. ^ ""3100: Run and Become" Opens at the Siskel Film Center Sept. 21 – Reel Honest Reviews". Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  9. ^ Gather (2020) - IMDb, retrieved 2020-10-23
  10. ^ "Jason Momoa - "Gather" and His Fight for Indigenous Peoples - The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Video Clip)". Comedy Central. 6 October 2020. Archived from the original on October 20, 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  11. ^ Eater Staff (2022-06-11). "Here Are the 2022 James Beard Foundation Media Award Winners". Eater. Retrieved 2022-06-15.
  12. ^ Sanjay Rawal (2014-04-22). "Three Things You Don't Know About Your Tomato | Sanjay Rawal". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  13. ^ Sanjay Rawal (2013-03-28). "Enjoying that Tomato On Your Sandwich? Don't Forget to Thank a Farmworker". Magazine.good.is. Archived from the original on 2014-07-15. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  14. ^ "Sanders Campaign Thanks Documentary Director Sanjay Rawal for 'Tenemos Familias' Footage". BernieSanders.com. 10 March 2016. Archived from the original on 19 October 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  15. ^ Fassler, Joe. "The Hidden Labor Behind Food: How to 'Read' a Tomato". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2017-11-10.
  16. ^ "Tribeca Interview: Challenging Impossibility Directors Sanjay Rawal and Natabara Rollosson". CinemaBlend.com. 2011-04-23. Archived from the original on 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  17. ^ "Festivals". www.challengingimpossibility.com. Archived from the original on 2014-12-08. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  18. ^ "Awards". www.challengingimpossibility.com. Archived from the original on 2014-12-08. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  19. ^ "Meet Your Food Chain (VIDEO)". Civil Eats. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  20. ^ a b "InterView Sanjay Rawal MAY2013". Carolann-gleason.com. Archived from the original on 2015-02-27. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  21. ^ Strom, Stephanie (2010-02-04). "Haitian Quake Brings More Money and Scrutiny to a Charity". The New York Times.
  22. ^ "Mark Juddery: Challenging Impossibility: Challenging the Oscars". Huffingtonpost.com. 2012-08-17. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  23. ^ "Men & Boys". Until The Violence Stops. Archived from the original on 2009-02-08. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  24. ^ "Richard Dreyfuss Receives 'America's Promise' Award". Reuters. 2010-09-28. Retrieved 2014-06-12.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  25. ^ "Richard Dreyfuss Gets Back to Fundamentals | On Air Videos | Fox News". Video.foxnews.com. 2011-01-20. Archived from the original on 2015-02-27. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  26. ^ "Guru Marathon, Sri Chinmoy". District Vision. Retrieved 2022-12-13.
  27. ^ "USATF - New York | Bayly and Rawal win Masters Half Marathon Titles in Syracuse". newyork.usatf.org. Retrieved 2025-04-05.
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