Shabnam Virmani is a documentary film maker and artist in residence at the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology in Bangalore since 2002. Co-founder of the Drishti Media Arts and Human Rights Collective, she has directed several documentaries, some of which have won awards. In 2002, she co-directed an award-winning community radio program with the Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan in Gujarat. She has performed Kabir's compositions in Rajasthan Kabir Yatra - a six-days long folk music festival and in Jashn-e-Rekhta.[1]
Kabira Khada Bazaar Mein, a documentary film by Shabnam Virmani on the poet-saint as part of her Kabir Project, has won the Special Jury Prize at the 58th National Awards, June 2011.[2]
She was conferred this award for,"An insightful film that introduces us to the various cults that have grown around Kabir, the mystic weaver and saint. It explores the nuances of India's argumentative tradition as exemplified by Kabir's dohas and traces the eventful journey of one man caught in an Orwellian dilemma as he is elevated to the status of a cult leader, torn between the inevitable trappings of hierarchy that run paradoxical to the simple philosophy of Kabir".[3]
