KUMARE Filmmaker & Provocateur Vikram Gandhi Joins HBO’s VICE As Producer & Correspondent

KUMARE Filmmaker & Provocateur Vikram Gandhi Joins HBO’s VICE As Producer & Correspondent

VICE Episodes With Vikram Gandhi Starts April 4^th, 2014 only on HBO

March 24^th, 2014 (New York, NY) -- Provocateur, filmmaker and journalist Vikram Gandhi has joined HBO’s Emmy® nominated news magazine show, VICE.

Gandhi, who has previously appeared on The Colbert Report, Nightline, Al Jazeera’s The Stream, and numerous NPR programs, will produce segments for VICE and appear as an on-air correspondent.  Gandhi will explore a range of topics and stories from terrorism in India, to tribal uprising in Papua New Guinea, to government secrecy in Japan, and ultra-violence in Honduras. 

"Vice makes the kind of documentaries that I'd been trying to make for years. There is a deeper truth that can be revealed from living in a story. And that is what we are trying to tap into. It was a perfect fit for me. It's been refreshing to be in an environment that is not afraid to take risks. This season has been challenging, seeing the world in way I've never seen before", said Vikram Gandhi.

Vikram Gandhi’s film Kumaré won the Audience Award for Feature Documentary at SXSW 2011.  In Kumaré, Vikram impersonates a religious leader and creates a following of real people.  While concealing his true identity from everyone he meets, Kumaré forges profound and spiritual connections with people from all walks of life.  By building a nest of followers, teaching them that religious leaders are not needed in finding spiritual enlightenment by subsequently outing himself, Vikram in the end, became a student to Kumaré’s teachings, helping himself while helping others.

Kino Lorber released Kumaré in the US to critical praise; the film was then released in over 20 other countries.  Stephen Holden gave the film a positive review in The New York Times, The Village Voice called the film “Incredibly moving”, The Washington Post gave it a “critic’s pick” and Salon gave it a “Pick of the Week”. 

The innovative news magazine show VICE kicked off its 12-edition second season FRIDAY, MARCH 14^th (11:00-11:30 p.m. ET/PT), immediately following “Real Time with Bill Maher.”  Vikram Gandhi’s first of five episodes airs on FRIDAY, APRIL 4^th.  Joining Vikram this season are additional new award-winning correspondents to the show’s roster. Along with Shane Smith, 2014 correspondents include VICE Media co-founder Suroosh Alvi; conflict-zone journalist, documentary filmmaker and author Ben Anderson; Academy Award®-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist Fazeelat Aslam (HBO’s “Saving Face”); VICE Media editor-in-chief Rocco Castoro; artist David Choe; Iranian photojournalist and filmmaker Gelareh Kiazand; and longtime VICE correspondent Thomas Morton.

HBO partners with VICE, the revolutionary new media company of the same name, on the Emmy®-nominated weekly series.

Always unorthodox and at times irreverent, VICE takes viewers around the globe as its correspondents cover stories often overlooked by traditional media outlets. When reporting on today’s most pressing issues, from anti-government rebellions to hotbeds of terrorist activity to conflict and corruption, VICE uses an immersive documentary style to bring a unique perspective to the events shaping the future.

Hosted by VICE Media founder Shane Smith, the series is executive produced by Bill Maher, Shane Smith, Eddy Moretti, VICE’s chief creative officer, and BJ Levin, with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria serving as consultant.

In the 2014 season, VICE investigates a broad range of topics, traveling to global locations to report on everything from rampant U.S. military waste and corruption in Afghanistan to extortion, torture and killing in Rio’s favelas, and terrorist training in Dagestan.

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