Biswanath Rath

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Biswanath Rath
Biswanath Rath being honoured at Prabasi Odia Business Summit, Chennai in April 2017
Born	(1984-06-18) 18 June 1984 (age 41) Jeypore, Odisha, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation(s)	Film director, screenwriter, editor, producer
Years active	2013–present
Spouse	Archana Rath
Children	1

Biswanath Rath is an Indian film director, screenwriter, editor and producer. His films have received a total of 600 recognition/awards in various International Film Festivals across the globe.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]} He is the first Odia filmmaker to achieve the milestone of winning 600 film festival accolades which includes 184 awards.^[7] He is the founder of production company BnR Films LLP.^[8]

In 2024, Biswanath has created history in Festival de Cannes by showcasing Odisha's Kotpad Handloom for the first time in the festival.^[9]

His first short film, Kar Bhalaa, garnered a total of 56 International Film Festivals nominations and three awards.^[10][11][12] His debut music video is called "Feel the Passion".^[12][13] It has received 31 international film festival nominations. His first ad film, The 'Right' Glass is a social ad-film based on child rights, which has garnered 8 awards and 77 international film festival nominations.^[10][14] His Tamil music video, "Namma Chennai Chancey Illa," produced by national daily The Times of India with the theme celebration of Chennai and its culture, was premiered at TourFilm Riga - Tourism Film Festival in 2017.^[15][16] This video is a spiritual successor to Chancey Illa (2014).^[17] His English documentary, A Zero to Hero Collaborative Approach, released on World Food Day (2016) received the Audience Award at the AgriCulture Film Festival held in Rome (Italy) on 9 December 2017.^{[18][19][20][8][21][22][23][24]}

This documentary tells the inspirational success story of the collaboration between Dangarbheja Gram Panchayat (Nabarangpur) and a civil society organization named Govindalaya.^[25]

His silent short film, New Champion, received the Best Film in Indian Panorama Award at CMS International Children's Film Festival at Lucknow on 9 April 2018.^[26]

His English documentary, Kotpad Weaving: The Story of a Race Against Time, was telecasted on DD National on 24 March 2018.^[27] It explores the uniqueness of Kotpad Handloom, the issues and possible solutions for revival of Kotpad weaving and dyeing.^[28][29] The film had its Australian premiere at Sydney on November 15, 2018 as part of a handloom exhibition titled “The Kotpad Collection” organized by brand Kay Collections (founded by Kushma Ram).^[30] It had its Indian premiere at Kashmir World Film Festival, Srinagar on 30 November 2018 where it won the Best Short Documentary award.^[31] The film also features 2019 Padma Shri award recipient Gobardhan Panika. The documentary film has garnered a total of 51 international film festival nominations and 8 awards.^[32] This film is the world's first documentary film on Kotpad Handloom.^[33] In June 2020, the film premiered on Amazon Prime US, UK, Canada, Australia and other English-speaking territories of Amazon Prime, making it the documentary from Odisha to feature on a major global OTT platform.^[34][35]

In June 2020, his romantic Odia music video "ବର୍ଷା ଭିଜା ରାତି" ("Barshaa Bhijaa Raati") premiered on an OTT named IndieShorts, making it the first Odia music video to feature on a national OTT platform.^[36][37]

In August 2020, his friendship-themed Hindi music video, “Woh Bhi Kya Din the Yaar,” premiered on YouTube on Friendship day. This music video is India's first independently made crowd-sourced music video.^[38]

In November 2023, his feature documentary proposal 'Habaspuri Weaving: The Second and Last Death???' got selected in NFDC Film Bazaar Documentary Co-Production Market and was pitched in Film Bazaar Goa held between 20-24 November 2023.^{[39][40][41][42][43][44]} This documentary is the spiritual successor to his acclaimed handloom documentary 'Kotpad Weaving' and aspires to explore the uniqueness of Habaspuri Handloom as well as the issues and challenges faced by Habaspuri weavers from Kalahandi district (Odisha). This documentary proposal featured in the list of 12 Documentaries selected by NFDC team (for co-production market) out of 98 International entries. The documentary was shot in September 2024 and is currently in Post-production stage.

On 22 May 2024, Biswanath, in his very first visit to Festival de Cannes (77th Edition) created history by showcasing Kotpad Handloom in Cannes Film Festival for the first time.^[45][9] He also launched the posters of his upcoming Odia feature documentary ‘Habaspuri Weaving: The Second and Last Death???' on the same day.^[46][47] This marked a significant milestone in his journey to celebrate and preserve Odisha’s rich artisan heritage and create awareness about these lesser-known handloom traditions across the globe.^[48][49]

Biswanath Rath was born in Jeypore, Odisha to Raghunath Rath and Pramila Rath.^[3][11] He is an alumnus of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at National Institute of Technology, Warangal.^[50] From 2007 to 2010, he worked in Maruti Suzuki India Limited after which he moved to Chennai to learn filmmaking.^[50] At Chennai, he completed formal courses in Screenwriting and Film Direction and started his filmmaking career.^[50][51]

In 2015, he founded film production company BnR Films LLP with his wife Archana Rath.^[8][51]