WHY KNOT is a documentary film that tells the story of a filmmaker trying to separate love and sex as the chorus to marry grows louder.
As he attends lavish weddings occuring within his family, Dhruv is pressured to follow suit and tries to find answers to some pressing questions by interviewing his family and experts in the field as he struggles to mediate an open relationship with the woman he loves.
His search takes us beyond his bedroom and into the biology of sex, the history of patriarchy and the politics of monogamy where his girlfriend, scientists, polyamorists, Dhruv's loved one's, and even tapeworms become a part of this self-reflexive narrative.
As the eldest male of an Indian family, I have been pressured to get married ever since I graduated from college but I have always felt uncomfortable committing to a vow of monogamy for the rest of my life.
This realization troubled me and I began to research why we marry and pledge fidelity to one person by reading evolutionary psychology, biology and history to try and understand the relevance of these social norms today.
Then, in 2011, I met a woman who swept my heart away and I decided to start making this film.
This film's objective is not to advocate for or against monogamy, but to break the silence and provoke thought on an issue which affects so many relationships and families today.
Our vision is to empower relationships and to encourage communication within by helping us understand who we are and how to negotiate this conflict between our instincts & our morals.
In a day and age where governments and social norms still dictate who we can love and how to love, I believe that we should take a stand to make these decisions for ourselves.
In 2005, Dhruv embarked on his debut feature, spending 10 months living in tents with tsunami survivors in Sri Lanka while shooting a documentary about disaster capitalism. "From Dust" premiered in the feature competition section of the Tribeca Film Festival and at Hot Docs where it opened to critical acclaim from the international press. The film secured distribution agreements with Films Transit International, The Cinema Guild and Amazon.com and was screened at the United Nations in May 2006 for its relevance to issues of human rights in the aftermath of natural disasters.
Thereafter, Dhruv has been hired to direct and shoot various other documentaries for international producers. Some of them include "Threads of Tradition", about the Indian Fashion Industry, which went onto won the MIPDOC Co-Pro Challenge at Cannes in 2008 and "Building Autism" which shadows an autistic savant and uncovers the link between autism and genius.
Dhruv is occasionally invited to speak at industry panels and educational institutions about the impact, distribution and future of documentary cinema. He also moonlights as a documentary cinematographer for other directors and producers and has sold some of his freelance camerawork to organizations such as the National Geographic Channel.
Dhruv is also an avid night photographer and his photography collection, "Mumbai Sleeping" has been exhibited and sold in art galleries around the world.
Dhruv currently resides between Vancouver and Dubai.
To learn more about Dhruv Dhawan's work and to read press and critic reviews, please visit www.film-real.com
Viktor Leberect
Bear Meets Butterfly
Bollywood Journalist
Marx in Drag
2plus Blog
Gasm.org
PolySingleish
Poliamore Italia
YouOnlyWetter
Loving Without Boundaries
Poliamore Italy
Mummy Daddy
My Therapist
Poly PipeLine
Modern Poly
The Needs
Mundo Poliamoroso
Polyskeptic
Love Outside the Box
Poly Living
Honest, Open & Vulnerable
Due to popular demand we are selling copies of WHY KNOT, the director's previous films &
our Monogamish & Delete Infidelity T Shirts at our Store!
Please allow 3-4 hours for delivery of your digital copies.
Check it out!