Shiva Raichandani | |
---|---|
Born | 26 October 1993 29) | (age
Nationality | British |
Education | The University of Leeds |
Alma mater | Good Shepherd International School |
Occupation | Artist |
Known for | |
Website | shivaraichandani |
Shiva Raichandani (born 1993 [1] ) is a BAFTA-nominated non-binary [2] British-Indian film and TV director, producer, screenwriter, dancer, and actor. Their works exist at the intersections of creating positive gender-expansive representation in mainstream media, addressing mental health stigma (especially within the South Asian context), and using the performing arts to drive positive social change.
They were selected as a recipient of the 2023 BFI and BAFTA LGBTQIA+ Mentoring Scheme, [3] and identified by Attitude Magazine as one of 2023’s Top 10 trailblazers for Film, TV, and Music [4] in the United Kingdom.
Raichandani is known for having been a semi-finalist on Britain's Got Talent, and a contestant on India's Got Talent and France's Got Talent with the London School of Bollywood. [5] [6] [7]
Their debut film, Queer Parivaar (2022), won the BAFTA-qualifying Iris Prize 'Best British Short' award, making it available for broadcast and streaming on Channel 4.
In May 2021, Raichandani won the inaugural Netflix Documentary Talent Fund [8] to direct a film on Shane 'ShayShay' Konno and their Pan-Asian drag and cabaret collective, The Bitten Peach. As reported by Variety, [9] the documentary is titled 'Peach Paradise', and premiered on TikTok’s first-ever live film showcase.
Shiva’s latest BAFTA-nominated documentary called ‘Always, Asifa’ [10] (commissioned by Together TV’s Diverse Film Fund) premiered at the BFI’s London Film Festival.
Raichandani also freelances as a speaker and consultant on inclusive LGBTQIA+ practices for corporate and non-profit organisations, and is a D&I Content Consultant at New Inclusion. [11]
Shiva has degrees in Psychology, Counselling, and Media Communication, and uses the combined knowledge from them with their lived experiences to tap into the discourses of intersectional identities. They use digital platforms to mobilise and create safe community spaces to champion diverse talent and drive topical conversations around societal issues.
Raichandani has also been featured on UK Black Pride, [20] Pride in London, [21] Instagram, [22] Bollyshake, and London Queer Fashion Show. [23]
Year | Film/Series | Company | Distributor | Role | Notes | Awards/Nominations |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | Eternals | Marvel | Walt Disney Company | Bollywood Dancer | ||
2022 | Queer Parivaar | Raisilience Ltd. | Channel 4 | Director / Writer / Producer / Star | Short film | Iris Prize - Best British Short Film Award |
2022 | Peach Paradise | Raisilience Ltd. | Netflix | Director / Writer / Producer | Documentary | |
2022 | Always, Asifa | Raisilience Ltd. | Together TV | Director / Producer | Documentary | BAFTA TV Award Nomination - Short Form Programme |
Raichandani produces films under their production company Raisilience Ltd.
Outfest is an LGBTQ-oriented nonprofit that produces two film festivals, operates a movie streaming platform, and runs educational services for filmmakers in Los Angeles. Outfest is one of the key partners, alongside the Frameline Film Festival, the New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival, and the Inside Out Film and Video Festival, in launching the North American Queer Festival Alliance, an initiative to further publicize and promote LGBT film.
India has a vibrant LGBTQ culture, especially in its large cities due to growing acceptance in the recent years.
Asia Kate Dillon is an American actor, best known for their roles as Brandy Epps in Orange Is the New Black and Taylor Mason in Billions. Dillon identifies as non-binary and uses singular they pronouns. Their role on Billions is the first non-binary main character on North American television, and earned them a Critics' Choice Television Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. They also played the Adjudicator in the action film John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019).
Jonathan McDonald Van Ness, also commonly referred to by his initials J.V.N, is an American hairstylist, podcast host and television personality. He is best known as the grooming expert on the Netflix series Queer Eye, for his work on the web series parody Gay of Thrones, and for hosting the Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness podcast.
The Delhi International Queer Theater and Film Festival (DIQTFF), is a queer cultural festival curating films, plays, talks and performances. It is organised by a queer collective in Delhi called Harmless Hugs. The film festival is intended to connect with larger diaspora of the Indian LGBTQ struggle for equal human rights and to reach out to masses via omnipotence of Media, Theatre and Cinema. Movie screenings and plays are well complemented by a round of panel discussions and debates, including some of the biggest names from the Indian LGBTQ Movement. Discussions around tumultuous territories of politics, gender disparity, coming out and involvement of families and more will also be a part of this two-day event, that is happening every December since its initiation in 2015.
Lachlan Watson is an American actor, best known for playing trans boy Theo Putnam in the Netflix original series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and non-binary twin children of Chucky, Glen and Glenda in the second season of the Syfy/USA Network original series Chucky.
The Geelong Pride Film Festival (GPFF) is an LGBT film festival held in Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
Darius Shu is a British cinematographer, film director and producer, best known for his work on the films His Hands, Mical and Secret Child. His directorial debut short film His Hands premiered at Tribeca Film Festival 2019 and was nominated for Best Narrative Short. The latest documentary that he shot, Always, Asifa, part of a limited television series on ITVX and Sky TV, is nominated at the BAFTA TV Awards 2023. Shu is the founder and managing director of Silverprince Pictures.
Jesse James Keitel is an American actress, writer, and artist, known for starring in Asher Jelinsky's award-winning short film Miller & Son (2019), the ABC crime drama Big Sky (2020) and on Queer as Folk (2022).
Mawaan Rizwan is a Pakistani-born British actor, writer and comedian who began his career as a YouTuber.
Nneka Onuorah is a director and producer. She is best known for her directorial debut, The Same Difference (2015), about gender roles in the Black lesbian community. She received a 2022 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Reality Program for her work on Lizzo's Watch Out for the Big Grrrls.
In the 2020s, LGBTQ representation in animated series and animated films became more pronounced than it had in the 2010s, or 2000s when it came to Western animation. This included series like The Owl House, Harley Quinn, Adventure Time: Distant Lands, RWBY, and Dead End: Paranormal Park. Series like She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Steven Universe Future, The Hollow, and Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, which had various LGBTQ characters, came to an end in 2020, and Gen:Lock came to an end in 2021. An upcoming season of Hazbin Hotel was hinted at, while an animated adaption of Lumberjanes was in development.
Patruni Sastry, popularly known as Patruni Chidananda Sastry or Suffocated art Specimen is a Expressionist dancer, performance artist, visual artist, model and drag queen.
Netflix has contributed substantially to LGBTQ representation in animation throughout the 2010s and 2020s. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, and transgender characters have appeared in various animated series, and some animated films on the streaming platform. GLAAD described Netflix as a company taking "impressive strides in viewership and impact," when it came to LGBTQ representation. Examples of original Netflix animated series with a large presence of LGBTQ characters include Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. In January 2021, GLAAD specifically highlighted the She-Ra and the Princesses of Power series finale which confirmed "its lead two characters, Catra and Adora, were queer and in love," and Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts which starred Benson, a gay character, and his love interest, Troy.
Anick Soni is a British Asian intersex human rights activist, creative consultant and researcher in childhood and children's rights, and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. In 2020, he co-founded an intersex charity in the UK named InterconnectedUK (iCONUK).
The Disney Channel, which launched in 1983, Disney XD, which began in 2009, Disney Junior, which launched in 2011, and shows on Disney+, along with the short-lived Toon Disney, have all occasionally featured lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) characters in their programming.
Rosalynne Montoya, known professionally as Rose Montoya, is an American model, social media content creator, and transgender rights activist. She began modeling in 2018, and has since modeled for Fenty Beauty, Savage X Fenty, Fluide, Yandy.com, Adore Me, and TOMS Shoes. Montoya, who is a non-binary transgender woman, was featured in 18 LGBTQ+ Policy Makers and Advocates Changing the World by Out Magazine in 2021. In 2022, she was nominated for Favorite TikToker at the 10th annual Queerty Awards.
Pippa "Pips" Bunce is a British banking executive who works to promote LGBTQIA+ and ally inclusion and advocacy. Bunce, who is non-binary and genderfluid, is a senior director at Credit Suisse. They serve as the Head of Global Markets Core Engineering Strategic Programs and as the Co-Chair of the LGBT Ally Program at Credit Suisse.