Mani Kaul was an Indian director of Hindi films and a figure in Indian parallel cinema. He graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) where he was a student of Ritwik Ghatak and later became a teacher. Starting his career with Uski Roti (1969), which won him the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie, he went on to win four of them in all. He won the National Film Award for Best Direction in 1974 for Duvidha and later the National Film Award for his documentary film Siddheshwari in 1989.
Smita Patil was an Indian film and theatre actress who primarily worked in Hindi and Marathi films. Regarded among the finest and greatest actresses in the history of Indian cinema, Patil appeared in over 80 films, in a career that spanned over a decade. Patil was the recipient of two National Film Awards, a Filmfare Award, two Filmfare Awards Marathi. She received the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honour in 1985.
Renu Saluja was an Indian film editor. In the 1980s and 1990s, she worked with both mainstream and art house Hindi cinema directors, including Govind Nihalani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Sudhir Mishra, Shekhar Kapoor, Mahesh Bhatt, and Vijay Singh. Her work encompassed multiple feature films, documentaries, short films, and television series.
Asif Kapadia is a British filmmaker.
The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) is a film institute under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India and aided by the Central Government of India. It is situated on the premises of the erstwhile Prabhat Film Company in Pune. It was established in 1960 and its alumni includes technicians, actors and directors in the film and television industry.
Pallavi Joshi is an Indian actress, writer, and film producer who works primarily in Hindi films and television. In a career spanning across films and television, Joshi is the recipient of such accolades as three National Film Awards, and a nomination for the Filmfare Awards.
Dibakar Banerjee is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and advertisement-filmmaker known for his work in Hindi films. Banerjee started his career in advertising, being a feature filmmaker, he still continues to be an ad-filmmaker. He also runs his own film production company, Dibakar Banerjee Productions.
Bina Paul, also known by her married name Bina Paul Venugopal, is an Indian film editor who works mainly in Malayalam-language films. A graduate of the University of Delhi, she completed a course on film editing from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, in 1983.
Gajendra Singh Chauhan known professionally as Gajendra Chauhan, is a former television actor known for his work on Indian television, especially his portrayal of Yudhishthira in the historical television series Mahabharat (1988–90). He has also had significant roles in a few B movies, and a larger number of cameo appearances in other films. In 2015, he was appointed chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), which sparked controversy and opposition by FTII students, leading to his resignation in October 2017. He is appointed Vice-chancellor of Pandit Lakhmi Chand State University of Performing and Visual Arts in 2021.
Gurvinder Singh is an Indian film director. He is best known for his Punjabi language films Anhe Ghore Da Daan, and Chauthi Koot which premiered at Venice and Cannes Film Festival respectively. Gurvinder is an alumnus of the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune from where he studied film-making and graduated in 2001. He travelled extensively through Punjab between 2002 and 2006, living and traveling with folk itinerants, documenting folk ballads and oral narratives. It led to his first documentary 'Pala'. He continued to make short experimental works and documenting arts/artists for the next few years. In 2005 he was invited by avant-garde Indian filmmaker Mani Kaul to be his teaching assistant for a master-class at FTII, which led to a close association with the filmmaker who became his mentor. He translated and published a book of conversations of Udayan Vajpeyi with Mani Kaul, titled 'Uncloven Space'. His latest film is 'Infiltrator' starring Veer Rajwant Singh which is a 15-minute short story in an international omnibus called 'In the same garden'
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 (2024), Manipuri cinema, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022, has grown in both its form and culture.
Kani Kusruti is an Indian actress and model. She first gained recognition in 2009 with the film Kerala Cafe, where her performance was critically acclaimed. Kani won the Best Actress at Kerala State Film Awards in 2020 and the Best Actress Award at the Moscow International Film Festival for her performance as Khadeeja in the film Biriyaani.
Divya Prabha is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Malayalam films. She gained wider attention for her roles in the films Take Off and Thamaasha. In 2015, she won Kerala State Television Award for Best Second Actress for her performance in the TV serial Eswaran Sakshiyayi. She was nominated for Best Actress at the 2022 Locarno Film Festival in the international competition section for the movie Ariyippu directed by Mahesh Narayanan. The film premiered in the Concorso internazionale of the 75th Locarno Film Festival on 4 August 2022, where it was nominated for Golden Leopard. The film had a worldwide release on Netflix on 16 December 2022. Her upcoming movie All We Imagine as Light directed by Payal Kapadia (filmmaker) has been selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, which premiered May 2024. She is one of the main lead in the film.
Vibha Bakshi is an Indian filmmaker, journalist, and founder of Responsible Films. She is known for her films that highlight issues of gender inequality. Vibha's most notable films as both director and producer include Daughters of Mother India and Son Rise. Both films are winners of the National Film Awards from the President of India. She is the recipient of four National Film Awards from the President of India.
Aimee Baruah is an Indian actress, producer, and director.
A Night of Knowing Nothing is a documentary film, directed by Payal Kapadia and released in 2021. An exploration of university student life in India, the film centres on letters written by L., a student at the Film and Television Institute of India, to her estranged boyfriend after they are separated when he is forced to quit film school and denied permission from his family to continue dating L. because she is not of the same caste.
Admitted is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language docudrama film directed by Chandigarh-based director Ojaswwee Sharma. The film is about Dhananjay Chauhan, the first transgender student at Panjab University. The role of Dhananjay Chauhan has been played by Dhananjay herself.
Chandita Mukherjee was an Indian documentary filmmaker, science communicator and activist. She was the recipient of two National Film Awards. She conceived and directed the TV series Bharat Ki Chhap on the history of science and technology in India. She was the executive director of Comet Media Foundation.
All We Imagine as Light is a 2024 drama film written and directed by Payal Kapadia. The cast includes Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam and Hridhu Haroon. The film was an international co-production involving companies from India, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Italy.
