Somnath Waghmare

Somnath Waghmare is an Indian researcher and documentary filmmaker based in the state of Maharashtra. His work is focused on documentation of political and social expression of Dalits in India, and his most recent and prominent film, Battle of Bhima Koregaon, was screened in India and abroad and received critically. He made his directorial debut with the short documentary feature I Am Not a Witch.

Early life and education

Somnath was born in Dalit - Neo Buddhist labourers family at Malewadi, a small village in Sangli district, Maharashtra. He completed his graduation in sociology in from Shivaji University, Kolhapur and then attended Savitribai Phule Pune University in Pune for his post-graduate studies in Media and Communication Studies. After completing his post-graduate studies, Somnath worked for two years as a contract employee at the Film and Television Institute of India before joining the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai for his M.Phil degree and then later Ph.D. in Social Sciences.

Waghmare is currently working on his third documentary film, Gail and Bharat, about Gail Omvedt and Bharat Patankar, two of the most distinguished activists and researchers of Dalit-Bahujan movements in the country. In 2020, Waghmare and Smita Rajmane received FICA Public Art Grant 2019 from The Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art for their project ‘The Ambedkar Age Digital Bookmobile’. In late 2023, Chaityabhumi was released and screened both in India and internationally, including the London School of Economics, Columbia University, and the University of Göttingen. This documentary is produced by director Pa. Ranjith’s Neelam Productions. The film was released on OTT platform MUBI on Ambedkar's birth anniversary, where it received positive reception from media outlets.

Filmography

As director