RESISTING CASTE(ISM) IN AUSTRALIA
This documentary examines caste discrimination within the South Asian–Australian diaspora, combining personal reflection with voices from anti-caste activists and scholars. It shows how everyday exclusions persist across social, educational, and professional spaces, while anti-caste efforts seek recognition, dignity, and justice.
Resisting Caste(ism) in Australia – A Documentary
Filmed, Researched & Edited by Dr Vikrant Kishore
Duration: 44 Minutes
Language: English
Release: Forthcoming (currently available only for special screenings on request).
This documentary, shaped as a ballad of resistance, examines how caste discrimination, often denied or dismissed in diaspora contexts, continues to affect the everyday lives of Dalit community members in Australia. Through reflexive narration and in-depth interviews conducted in Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle, and Coffs Harbour, the film presents voices that speak of exclusion, erasure, and the routine silencing of caste-based prejudice across educational, social, religious, and professional settings.
Rather than attending only to visible incidents, the film follows subtle and coded hierarchies within the South Asian–Australian diaspora, illustrating how casteism remains embedded in social arrangements, community practices, and cultural norms. In the context of emerging policy acknowledgment of caste discrimination, including the Australian Human Rights Commission’s National Anti-Racism Framework (2024), the documentary centres the work of anti-caste activists who confront dominant-caste advantage and assert space for Dalit identity, resistance, and public presence. Drawing on his own lived experience and personal anguish, Vikrant threads these concerns through conversations with Professor Hari Bapuji, Asmita Mahire Singh, Aparna Ramteke, Neeraj Ramteke, Parag Moon, Rupali S. Bhamare, Dr Prashant Khobargade, Dr Sangeeta Khobargade, and Haroon Qasim.
