MARQUETTE, Mich.—A documentary filmmaker from India will visit Northern Michigan University to show his award-winning feature about the stigma of HIV in India and lead a discussion about being a socially engaged filmmaker in Bollywood. The free event begins with the movie at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, followed by the discussion.

Dhar Anirban (Onir) will screen his 2005 film, My Brother Nikhil, which sensitively narrates the 1989 story of Dominic D’Souza, who was diagnosed with one of India’s first cases of HIV and arrested and quarantined for his condition. In producing the film, Onir created and released the first mainstream Indian film dealing with the subject of homosexuality, a lifestyle still illegal in India. Onir served as director, writer, editor and producer for the film, which won the acclaim of critics inside and outside India and earned nearly a dozen international awards.Intensely committed to social justice, his latest film project focuses on child abuse.

Onir studied literature and filmmaking in Kolkata, India, and perfected his skills in Berlin, Germany. Since the early 1990s, he has worked in the Indian film, television and music recording industries.

This international visiting scholar presentation is sponsored by the NMU department of communication and performance studies, the office of international programs and the provost’s office.