Archive: Advisers & Mentors from the Previous Edition
Advisers
Kanak Dixit
Editor/ Writer
Kanak Mani Dixit is a Nepali publisher, editor and writer. He is the founder of the magazine Himal Southasian and cofounder of Himalmedia He is also the author of several children’s books and the founder of Film South Asia (FSA), a film festival for documentary films. He also works in spinal injury rehabilitation, public transportation, archiving, and architectural and environmental preservation. He was honored with a Prince Claus Award from the Netherlands in 2009.
Jamil Dehlavi
Film Maker
Jamil Dehlavi is an independent filmmaker who read law at Oxford and was called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn in London before studying film at Columbia University in New York. He has written, produced and directed many international award-winning feature films including The Blood of Hussain, Immaculate Conception and Jinnah. More recently he has been teaching at Habib University in Karachi as an Associate Professor in their School of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences.
Prasanna Vithanage
Film Maker
Prasanna is one of Sri Lanka’s most notable filmmakers. On leaving the school he first became involved with theatre. He translated and directed several films and his first film ‘Sisila Gini Gani’ (Ice on Fire) won nine OCIC (Sri Lanka) awards which included the ‘Best Director’ award. Since then Prasanna Vithanage has gained national & international popularity and his films have won various National and International Awards and are widely screened throughout the world.
Nelofer Pazira
Film Maker
An award-winning Afghan-Canadian filmmaker, journalist and human rights activist, Nelofer starred in Kandahar, co-produced, and co-directed Return to Kandahar. Her films include Audition and Act of Dishonour. Currently, she is producing a documentary about journalism. She has worked for the Canadian Broadcasting (CBC) TV and Radio and has written for UK newspapers. Nelofer’s book A Bed of Red Flowers: In Search of My Afghanistan won the Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize.
Sabiha Sumar
Film Maker – Pakistan
Sabiha Sumar is multiple award-winning filmmakers and a Sundance alumnus. Her debut feature film Khamosh Pani/Silent Waters won 17 international awards worldwide including the Golden Leopard at Locarno for Best Film. Other notable films by Sabiha include Who Will Cast the First Stone (Golden Gate Award, San Francisco Film Festival) Dinner with the President (EU Award, Anasy Award for Best Documentary) and Azmaish a journey through the subcontinent.
Mentors
Firozeh Usufzay
Cross-cultural filmmaker, digital strategist, educator & founder – Pakistan
Firozeh Usufzay is an award-winning multidisciplinary filmmaker, digital growth strategist & educator. She works at the intersection of storytelling, filmmaking, technology & pedagogy. She currently resides in Milan where she teaches postgraduate level courses in the field of digital strategy & analytics, growth marketing & growth hacking, mobile filmmaking production & marketing. She is passionate about human rights, visual anthropology, world cinema, transmedia storytelling, trend spotting, education, technology & traveling.
Ammar Aziz
Film Maker – Pakistan
Ammar Aziz is a FIPRESCI winning and IDFA nominated documentary filmmaker. His debut feature film A Walnut Tree has been screened in over 70 international film festivals. He served the as jury for IDFA’s Oxfam Global Justice Award in 2015. Ammar is also the co-founder of SAMAAJ, a nonprofit org using art and culture for rights awareness in Pakistan.
Sahraa Karimi
Film Director – Afghanistan
Sahraa Karimi is an independent film director from Afghanistan. She has made more than 30 short fictions and documentaries some of which won numerous awards in International film festival including Sun in a Net National Film award from Slovak Film and TV Academy in 2012. Her documentary film ” Afghan women behind the wheel” got more than 25 international awards and was broadcasted through ARTE France TV Channel and BBC.
Maheen Zia
Film Director – Pakistan
Maheen is a Karachi based filmmaker. Her documentary work has aired both locally and internationally. In 2008 she received the Berlin Today Award for her short fiction film ‘Match Factor’. She is a founding member of the KaraFilm Society and has also served as an International Jury Member for several film festivals. She taught filmmaking at the Department of Visual Studies, University of Karachi, for nine years and designed the department’s Bachelor of Media Arts programme.
Asoka Handagama
Film Maker – Srilanka
Handgama is a Sri Lankan filmmaker and is considered as the leader of the third generation of Sri Lankan cinema. His films aim to explore new forms and narratives. This is My Moon, Flying With One Wing, Letter of Fire and Let Her cry are some of his notable. Amiens International Film Festival also paid tribute to Asoka Handagama for his contribution to the development of independent cinema in Asia
Reecha Sharma
Actress – Nepal
Reecha Sharma is a Nepali actress, model and VJ. She was one of the ten semifinalists of Miss Nepal 2007 pageant. Reecha has been popular for her acting in music videos and ramps. She made her acting debut in a Nepali film and most successful box office movie of 2012 Loot marked a turning point in her acting career. She also acted in a youth-focused movie Visa Girl in 2012.
Min Bahadur Bham
Director – Nepal
Min Bahadur is a young filmmaker and producer from Nepal. He participated in the Berlinale Talent Campus and the Asian Film Academy in 2013. His short film THE FLUTE and his debut feature KALO POTHI were the first Nepalese films presented at Venice Film Festival. In is also President of the Independent Film Society of Nepal, Assistant Professor at Oscar Int. College of Film Studies and Programmer at Ekadeshma Film Festival, Nepal.
Neeraj Bhasin
Filmmaker/Artist – India
Neeraj is an arts practitioner and a filmmaker. He has directed and produced multiple award-winning films. He is also the founder and director of Heritage Commons, a non-profit organization. Presently he is writing a feature, interactive documentary, directing documentaries and series of films on art collective from all over India. He is also focusing on documenting India’s contemporary, traditional and new media artists for future audiences.
Asmita Shrish
Filmmaker – Nepal
Asmita is a Nepali filmmaker working in fiction and documentary. Her short documentaries “Auntie Ganga” and “Gyalmu’s House” have played in 50 festivals around the world including Human Rights Watch. She also produced the short documentary Kaloo School (2013) exploring the challenges of education in the mountains of Afghanistan. Asmita also co-directed Chandra, which was premiered in the 20th edition of International Busan Film Festival and was also one of 8 directing fellows in Asian Film Academy 2014 nurtured by auteur Béla Tarr.
Rezwan Shariar Sumit
Director – Bangladesh
Sumit was born & raised in Bangladesh’s boisterous capital Dhaka. Shorts produced by him have traveled to Copenhagen, NYFF, AFI Fest and Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, and have been acquired by MUBI, VPRO, ASPiRE TV for worldwide distribution. His first feature ‘The Salt in Our Waters’ was awarded France’s CNC (€80,000), Bangladesh’s National Grant ($62,500) and a writing grant by Spike Lee. He is also a Cannes-IEFTA Global Film-Expression and Film Bazaar-CPM 2016 alumni.
