The Indian film at Cannes made by half a million farmers

May 19, 2024 11:36 AM

Parallel cinema maestro Shyam Benegal's acclaimed film Manthan was crowdfunded by half a million small dairy farmers putting in ₹2 each. Nearly a half century later, a newly mastered copy is premiering at Cannes. It tells a fictionalized account of the real-life story of dairy collectivization among poor and exploited small dairy farmers, the story of the famous Amul cooperative.

When the film was released, the small farmers who had coproduced it thronged to watch it in theaters, helping make it a success.

Amul, with a membership of 3.6 million small milk producers, is one of India's largest and best known Indian cooperatives. It led to the transformation of India from a milk-deficient nation into the world's largest milk producer.

Another coop with an incredible genesis story is Lijjat Papad. (No film about this one AFAIK, sadly.)

posted by splitpeasoup (1 comment total)

Oh, this is cool to hear about Amul! They seem to be one of the big ghee brands when I am at a store that sells ghee, so it's nice to hear that they're, like, the anti-Nestlé
posted by DoctorFedora at 5:09 PM on May 19 [1 favorite]