Proposition for a Revolution

Crowdfunding

The movie was first conceived by Khushboo Ranka and Vinay Shukla as a way to continue the theme of documenting uprisings and protests happening around the world. Several documentaries had released about the Occupy Wallstreet movement in the United States, the Arab Spring protests in the Middle East and Northern Africa, and the protests of sovereignty and political corruption in The Ukraine, however there had not been a major documentary done about the Jan Lokpal protest movement in India.

The makers of "An Insignificant Man" posted a 'plea' on their film site, making a case for the importance of their documentary, stating, "When we began shooting, nobody knew what lay in the future. Least of all, us. Today, we feel, we have a film that is a critical document, observing not just the evolution of a political party, but the gradual shift that we are beginning to witness in our political discourse. In the last year, we have been helped by friends who moved cities and jobs to work on this film and by colleagues who brought in their own resources. We managed to win the prestigious IDFA Bertha Grant for documentaries. We now come to you. Your support will enable us to make a better quality film in lesser time. It will also ensure that nothing can stop this film from reaching you. Please be a part of this conversation, and help us take it further. We have a host of exciting incentives too, do check them out on our page. We finished shooting a few months ago and now we need your help to take our film through post-production." The film's site explains, "What is unique in the Indian story is that some of the protesters decided to form a political party and fight state-wide elections in New Delhi. This is the story of the Aam Aadmi Party or the Common Man’s Party. "An Insignificant Man" aims to chronicle the journey of the party from its formation in December 2012 to the Delhi state elections in December 2013."

The crowdfunding campaign received unprecedented support. While the filmmakers had an initial goal of $20,000, they went on to receive a staggering $120,000, nearly 600% over their target. This was the largest crowdfunding campaign of its kind in India, hosted by the filmmakers on their own platform.

Production

The production of the film is being done through crowdfunding. This form of production has become increasingly popular in Indian cinema due to the rise of a major independent film movement in the country. When asked in an interview with The Hindu, a major newspaper in India, on why the team chose crowdfunding, director Vinay Shukla said " [sic] Our film is a documentary set in contemporary politics and investors didn't find it an interesting proposition. Those interested in investing wanted to know if we were supporting AAP or against it," Not wanting to compromise the neutral stand of their film, the team opted for crowd funding.

The film has won support from the Sundance Institute, IDFA & Asian Network of Documentary Fund. The film was selected for and won awards at the Hot Docs Forum Toronto, NFDC Film Bazaar WIP Lab & DocEdge Kolkatta.

Reception

Business Standard wrote that the documentary "reminds one of Jehane Noujaim’s Oscar-nominated documentary The Square which took a compelling look at the protests at Cairo’s Tahrir Square." Screen Daily commented that "Combining exceptional access and deft editing, this documentary about the rise of India’s newest parliamentary party, the Common Man’s Party (AAP), and the divisive, charismatic man at its heart, makes for unexpectedly riveting viewing."