By: Jabria Roscoe
Sanjeev Chatterjee, professor, won the Award of Excellence from the Broadcast Education Association Festival of Media Arts (BEA) for his documentary, Sweet Malady.
“It feels great,” said Chatterjee. “It’s an international award so it always feels good to win something like this.”
Sweet Malady follows a West Bengal family whose members all acquire Type 2 Diabetes from foods they associate with happiness.
“I’m inspired by what I see,” said Chatterjee. “I wanted to show the culture of sweets in the Bengali community in India and show something that is marketed as good can actually be a bad thing.”
Chatterjee makes films that focus on human interaction and the realities of the planet. His latest film, Sweet Malady, is no different.
“The story was in my head for a long time,” said Chatterjee. “I want to be able to show it in communities and bring awareness to people.”
While Chatterjee is proud of his award for Sweet Malady, he is more interested in the impact his film leaves on the audience.
“I really want to get the film out to other universities, campuses, and doctors,” said Chatterjee. “One thing that is emerging from discussions around the film is that doctors are mostly focused on the medicine without looking at the impact that sugar has on culture and diet.”
Chatterjee says he is excited to continue to bring awareness to Type 2 Diabetes through his film in the future.
“When people see something in a light-hearted manner, they can understand what it is,” said Chatterjee. “My friend who saw the movie said he saw his own life through the film “
Sweet Malady was produced by Miami Herbert Business School alumnus, Souren Sarkar, and his brother, Soumen Sarkar. Both were born and raised in Kolkata. The BEA Festival of Media Arts is a global exhibition that showcases student and faculty work in several categories including film, documentary, and scriptwriting. The BEA received 1,700 entries and was scheduled to showcase the top 21 entries Apr. 18-21 in Las Vegas.
