Vikram Jayanti
Encyclopedia
Vikram Teja Jayanti is a documentary filmmaker responsible for a number of well known full-feature documentary films. Two of his films, for which he has production credits, have received Academy Awards
for Best Full-Feature Documentary
; the 1997 blockbuster When We Were Kings
and 2005's Born Into Brothels
. A sampling of his other work includes Innocents Abroad, The Man Who Bought Mustique, James Ellroy's Feast of Death, Game Over: Kasparov And The Machine
, and Lincoln. He and his films have also won a number of awards, including the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival
, and have been nominated for others.
Vikram Jayanti was born in New York in 1955, and spent his childhood variously in France, Italy, Switzerland, India, Costa Rica and England, where he attended Tonbridge School followed by Warwick University. After seeing Martin Scorsese
's Mean Streets
and Werner Herzog
's The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
in the same week he moved to Los Angeles in 1977 to become a filmmaker. He began producing anthropological documentaries, including producing In Her Own Time about the anthropologist Barbara Myerhoff
, and later ran two documentary film festivals in Los Angeles. His future work garnered numerous awards, such as When We Were Kings
, which won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance and an Oscar in 1997.
Since then he has directed a series of feature documentaries which his friends call his American Monsters series, about larger-than-life characters such as Ken Kesey
, James Ellroy
, Julian Schnabel
, Garry Kasparov
and Abraham Lincoln
, and he was rumored to be focused on Phil Spector
recently. The Man Who Bought Mustique, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2000, was nominated for a BAFTA, and the UK's Channel Four version of the film won the Indie award for Best Documentary in 2000.
Jayanti is known for "his gonzo choice of subjects," and he "has also produced high-profile television documentaries with his signature combination of eccentricity and amazement."
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Best Full-Feature Documentary
Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...
; the 1997 blockbuster When We Were Kings
When We Were Kings
When We Were Kings is a 1996 documentary film directed by Leon Gast about the famous Rumble in the Jungle heavyweight championship match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. The fight was held in Zaire on October 30, 1974.The film features a number of celebrities, including James Brown, Jim...
and 2005's Born Into Brothels
Born into Brothels
Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids is a 2004 American documentary film about the children of prostitutes in Sonagachi, Kolkata's red light district...
. A sampling of his other work includes Innocents Abroad, The Man Who Bought Mustique, James Ellroy's Feast of Death, Game Over: Kasparov And The Machine
Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine
Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine is a 2003 documentary film by Vikram Jayanti about the match between Garry Kasparov, the highest rated chess player in history and the World Champion for 15 years , and Deep Blue, a chess-playing computer created by IBM...
, and Lincoln. He and his films have also won a number of awards, including the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
, and have been nominated for others.
Vikram Jayanti was born in New York in 1955, and spent his childhood variously in France, Italy, Switzerland, India, Costa Rica and England, where he attended Tonbridge School followed by Warwick University. After seeing Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
's Mean Streets
Mean Streets
Mean Streets is a 1973 drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Scorsese and Mardik Martin. The film stars Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro. It was released by Warner Bros. on October 2, 1973...
and Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog Stipetić , known as Werner Herzog, is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director.He is often considered as one of the greatest figures of the New German Cinema, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner...
's The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser is a 1974 West German drama film written and directed by Werner Herzog about the legend of Kaspar Hauser. Its original German title is Jeder für sich und Gott gegen alle, which means "Every man for himself and God against them all"...
in the same week he moved to Los Angeles in 1977 to become a filmmaker. He began producing anthropological documentaries, including producing In Her Own Time about the anthropologist Barbara Myerhoff
Barbara Myerhoff
Barbara Myerhoff , anthropologist, filmmaker, and founder of the Center for Visual Anthropology at the University of Southern California....
, and later ran two documentary film festivals in Los Angeles. His future work garnered numerous awards, such as When We Were Kings
When We Were Kings
When We Were Kings is a 1996 documentary film directed by Leon Gast about the famous Rumble in the Jungle heavyweight championship match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. The fight was held in Zaire on October 30, 1974.The film features a number of celebrities, including James Brown, Jim...
, which won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance and an Oscar in 1997.
Since then he has directed a series of feature documentaries which his friends call his American Monsters series, about larger-than-life characters such as Ken Kesey
Ken Kesey
Kenneth Elton "Ken" Kesey was an American author, best known for his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , and as a counter-cultural figure who considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. "I was too young to be a beatnik, and too old to be a...
, James Ellroy
James Ellroy
Lee Earle "James" Ellroy is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a so-called "telegraphic" prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, staccato sentences, and in particular for the novels The Black...
, Julian Schnabel
Julian Schnabel
Julian Schnabel is an American artist and filmmaker. In the 1980s, Schnabel received international media attention for his "plate paintings"—large-scale paintings set on broken ceramic plates....
, Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....
and Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
, and he was rumored to be focused on Phil Spector
Phil Spector
Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
recently. The Man Who Bought Mustique, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2000, was nominated for a BAFTA, and the UK's Channel Four version of the film won the Indie award for Best Documentary in 2000.
Jayanti is known for "his gonzo choice of subjects," and he "has also produced high-profile television documentaries with his signature combination of eccentricity and amazement."