Shyam Benegal is an Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of parallel cinema, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s. He has received several accolades, including eighteen National Film Awards, a Filmfare Award and a Nandi Award. In 2005, he was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in the field of cinema. In 1976, he was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honour of the country, and in 1991, he was awarded Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour for his contributions in the field of arts.
Anand Patwardhan is an Indian documentary filmmaker known for his socio-political, human rights-oriented films. Some of his films explore the rise of religious fundamentalism, sectarianism and casteism in India, while others investigate nuclear nationalism and unsustainable development. Notable films include Bombay: Our City (1985), In Memory of Friends (1990), In the Name of God (1992), Father, Son, and Holy War (1995), A Narmada Diary (1995), War and Peace (2002) and Jai Bhim Comrade (2011), and Reason (2018) which have won national and international awards.
Mita Vashisht is an Indian actress. Known for her work on screen, stage and television, she has played a wide range of roles. Her most prominent appearances includes; sci-fi television series Space City Sigma (1989-1991), Pachpan Khambe Laal Deewarein, Swabhimaan, Alaan (Kirdaar) to Trishna in Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki and Jethi Maa in Kaala Teeka to film roles with a wide spectrum of directors with different cinema styles.
The KASHISH Pride Film Festival is an annual LGBTQ event that has been held in Mumbai, India, since 2010. The film festival screens gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer films from India and around the world. It is voted as one of the top five LGBT film festivals in the world.
Kirron Anupam Kher is an Indian politician; theatre, film and television actress; television personality; singer; entertainment producer; and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. In May 2014, she was elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Indian Parliament, from Chandigarh. During her film career, she is the recipient of two National Film Awards and four Filmfare Award nominations.
Leena Manimekalai is an Indian filmmaker, poet and an actor. Her works include five published poetry anthologies and several films in genres, documentary, fiction and experimental poem films. She has been recognised with participation, mentions and best film awards in many international and national film festivals.
Amit Dutta is an Indian experimental filmmaker and writer. He is considered to be one of the most significant contemporary practitioners of experimental cinema, known for his distinctive style of filmmaking rooted in Indian aesthetic theories and personal symbolism resulting in images that are visually rich and acoustically stimulating. His works mostly deal with subjects of art history, ethno-anthropology and cultural inheritance through cinema, many times merging research and documentation with an open imagination.
Sunil Grover is an Indian actor and comedian who works in Hindi and Punjabi language films and television. He came into limelight for his portrayal as Gutthi on television show Comedy Nights with Kapil but gained popularity for playing the role of Dr. Mashoor Gulati, Rinku Devi and Pidu on The Kapil Sharma Show. He was also seen in the films Gabbar Is Back, The Legend of Bhagat Singh, Bharat and Jawan.
The Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films (MIFF) is a festival organized in the city of Mumbai by the Films Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. It was started in 1990, and focuses on documentary, short fiction and animation films.
Kamar Ahmad Simon is a Bangladeshi filmmaker. He was featured as red carpet director in Piazza Grande at Locarno and has won various awards including the prestigious Harrell Award at CIFF (Camden), Grand Prix at Cinéma du Réel (Paris), Open Doors Award and Arte International Prix at Locarno, Golden Conch at MIFF (Mumbai), grants from Sundance, IDFA-Bertha and WCF/ Berlinale. He has been a jury member of the Sydney International Film Festival for the Australian segment, La Bibliothèque publique d’information (BPI) France, Johns Hopkins University USA has acquired his film and Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) have exhibited his work.
The Cinema of Manipur is the film industry based in Manipur, India. It includes not only Meitei language movies but all the films made in different languages of the different communities in Manipur. The Manipuri film industry was born when Matamgi Manipur by Debkumar Bose was released on 9 April 1972. From Aribam Syam Sharma's Paokhum Ama, the first colour Manipuri film (1983), M.A Singh's Langlen Thadoi, the first full-length colour Manipuri film (1984), Oken Amakcham's Lammei, the first Manipuri digital film (2002), to Priyakanta Laishram's Oneness (film), the first Manipuri gay-themed film (2023), Manipuri cinema, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022, has grown in both its form and culture.
India Untouched: Stories of a People Apart is a 2007 documentary by Indian filmmaker Stalin K. The film reveals the discrimination and atrocities against dalits and practice of Untouchability rooted in different parts of India. Stalin's interview and clips of the film were featured in Episode 10: Dignity for All of Satyamev Jayate TV series on the issue of Untouchability.
Aimee Baruah is an Indian actress, producer, and director.
Son Rise is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language documentary film directed and produced by Vibha Bakshi. The film is set in Haryana, infamous for its strongly embedded patriarchy. Yet, from this unlikeliest place, Vibha Bakshi's Son Rise follows those men who are trying to break the shackles of patriarchy and fight for women's rights.
Shivendra Singh Dungarpur is an Indian filmmaker, producer, film archivist and restorer. He is best known for his films Celluloid Man, The Immortals and CzechMate: In Search of Jiří Menzel. He has also directed several award-winning commercials and public service campaigns under the banner of Dungarpur Films.
The 16th Mumbai International Film Festival was held from 28 January to 3 February 2020.
Farha Khatun is an Indian editor and documentary filmmaker known for directing the documentary Holy Rights which won Best Film on Social Issues at the 67th National Film Awards.
Pabung Syam is a 2021 Indian Meitei language documentary film directed by Haobam Paban Kumar. It is produced by Films Division of India. The film was selected in the non-feature section of the Indian Panorama at the 52nd International Film Festival of India 2021. It won the Best Biographical Film award at the 68th National Film Awards.
Bobby Wahengbam is an Indian filmmaker, producer, writer and film critic known for his works in Manipuri films. He is the recipient of several accolades, including two National Film Awards. As a film critic, he contributed regularly for local and national newspapers for the last two decades, where some of his writings have been translated into other languages as well. Now, he regularly writes as a cinema critic for The People's Chronicle, a local English daily, every Sunday for the last four years.
Way Back Home is a 2003 documentary film directed by Supriyo Sen and produced by his wife, Rajasri Mukhopadhyay. The film received a National Film Award from the Government of India, the Sundance Documentary Grant and the Asian Network of Documentary Award from the Pusan International Film Festival.
