AMBARIEN ALQADAR
EDUCATION
2012 M.F.A. Film and Media Arts, Fulbright Nehru Fellow, Temple University, Philadelphia USA.
2003 M.A. with Honors, Film & Mass Communications, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India.
2000 B.A. with Honors, Department of English Literature & Modern European Languages, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi India.
FILMOGRAPHY
2021 BIRD WOMAN (in development)
115 minutes, Narrative Drama
Writer-director of a story about a daughter, her father and a magical creature from their past.
SULTANA’S DREAM
20 minutes, Sci-Fi Short
Producer, Writer-Director & Editor of a magical journey of a woman in outer space.
AMERICAN DREAM (in production)
28 minutes, Video, Documentary
Director, co-cinematographer, editor, sound recordist. A decade long portrait of an immigrant taxi driver in U.S. chasing his dream of becoming a filmmaker.
2020 CHLOE´
8 minutes, Dramatic Short
Producer, Writer-Director & Editor of a short about a homeless teenager in Upstate New York.
2018 AYESHA
15 min, HD Video, Narrative Drama
Writer-director, producer, editor, sound designer of a short about an American Muslim woman whose secret weekend plans take an unexpected turn when her
immigrant father encounters a war veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress.
2012 THE GHETTO GIRL
28 min, HD Video, Documentary
Director, producer, editor and sound designer.
A personal-essay that unfolds as a girl walking between home and streets of her Muslim neighborhood in New Delhi, India. The film explores how the Partition of
India casts a shadow on the everyday lives of Muslims.
2009 A DIARY SCATTERED IN TIME AND PLACE
12 minutes, 16mm Film, Experimental Narrative
Producer, Writer-Director, Editor of a short about a young woman who finds love in a new city but things fall apart.
2008 FOUR WOMEN AND A ROOM
35 min, Video, Documentary
Director, producer, editor, sound designer of a documentary about four women in India’s capital city- New Delhi navigating motherhood amidst the social pressure
to give birth to sons.
2005 ELSEWHERE
28 min, Video, India-Spain
Co-Director, cinematographer, editor and sound designer of a short documentary about young Muslims between India and Spain.
2003 WHO CAN SPEAK OF MEN?
35 min, Video, India
Director, producer, cinematographer, editor of a documentary about three cross dressing Muslim women who bend all rules in India.
PUBLIC ART PROJECTS
2017 OUTSIDE A MOSQUE
Writer-Director, Cinematographer, Video, 3 mins
An experimental video about being an outsider.
Borders in a Single Shot: After Farocki / Ehmann’s Labor in a Single Shot, The Farocki Academy, Berlin.
2016 BEYOND BORDERS
A community performance project celebrating the legacy of Susan B. Anthony.
Video, 2 mins created by artist Mary Jaye Blanchard.
AWARDS & HONORS
2021 Stowe Story Labs Fellow & SAG Indie Finalist
2021 The Frank J. Romano Endowed Prize, Rochester Institute of Technology
2020 I View World Human Rights Film Festival, Retrospective Screening
2020 Sundance Project Development Lab, Shortlist
2020 Athena Fellow, Power Women Summit, Los Angeles
2019 The Gitner Family Prize for Pro-bono work & artistic achievement
2019 The Athena Screenwriting Lab, New York
2018 Sundance Screenwriters Lab, Shortlist
2018 Emerging Filmmaker Award, Queens World Film Festival, New York
2018 Best Ensemble Narrative Short Nomination, Queens World Film Festival
2017 The Virginia Center for The Creative Arts Residency
2017 Mid Atlantic Creative Arts Fellowship
2017 Award of Distinction, Canada Shorts Film Festival
2017 Honorable Mention, Experimental Forum
2014 Society for Visual Anthropology Film Festival, AAA Best Graduate Film Award, USA
2014 International Television Services (ITVS) Women and Girls Lead Global Fellow
2012 Ben Lazaroff Screenwriting Award for Best Original Screenplay
2012 Temple University Graduate Thesis Award
2012 Indian Documentary Producers Association Award for Excellence
2012 Special Jury Award, Federation of Film Societies of India-SIGNS
2012 Pennsylvania Council for the Arts: PIFVA
2012 The Carole Fielding Award, University Film & Video Association
2011 Pennsylvania Council for the Arts: PIFVA
2010 Art Creates Change, The Kym Preusse Speaker Series, Toronto
2009 Fulbright-Nehru Leadership Development Fellow, Temple University
2009 Indian Documentary Producers Association Silver Award for Excellence
2006 Best Documentary Gold, International Digital Film Festival of India
2004 European Union-India Documentary and Conflict Resolution Fellow, Thompson Foundation UK
2002 Center for the Study of Developing Societies (SARAI), Independent Research Fellow, India
FESTIVALS & SCREENINGS
2021 Loss & Transience, An Exhibition of Moving Image Artworks & Documentary Films From
India, VisionMix, Hong-Gah Museum, Taiwan.
2021 I View World Human Rights Film Festival.
2021 University Film and Video Association Conference.
2019 Women of Color Film Festival, MAGIC Spell Studios, New York
2018 New Filmmakers, Anthology Film Archives, New York
2017 Canada Shorts Film Festival
2017 Oil Valley Film Festival
2017 Trenton Film Festival
2017 Queens World Film Festival
2017 The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Artist Residency
2017 The American Center India-US Cultural Film Festival
2017 Rochester Institute of Technology, Faculty Showcase
2017 Indo-US Week, The American Center, India
2017 Young India Fellowship Program, Ashoka University, India
2016 The Little Theatre, Rochester Documentary Filmmakers Showcase
2016 College of Art & Design Faculty Showcase, RIT
2016 Alliance Française, Mumbai, India
2015 William Harris Gallery, Rochester Institute of Technology, September
2014 Kriti, New Delhi, India
2013 Official Selection, International Women’s Film Festival of Seoul, South Korea
2013 Official Selection, Tempo Dokumentär Festival, Stockholm
2013 Deptt. of Visual Anthropology, Towson University, Maryland, USA
2013 University Film and Video Conference, Huret & Specter Gallery Boston, MA
2012 National Public Service Broadcast, India
2012 International Association of Women in Radio and Television, Our Lives to Live
2012 Refractions on Muslim Identity, Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology & Anthropology, USA
2012 International Visual Sociology Association, New York
2012 International Conference on Islam, Gender and Youth in South-East Asia, Berlin, Germany
2011 The Open Frame Film Festival, India
2011 India National Television Broadcast
2010 Official Selection, Mumbai International Film Festival
2009 Official Selection, Karachi International Film Festival, Pakistan
2009 Official Selection, International Documentary & Short Film Festival, Kerala
2009 Official Selection, Indo-Korea International Women’s Film Festival
2009 9th International Social Communication Cinema, India
2009 Official Selection, The Indo-Korea International Women’s Film Festival
2008 Official Selection, Indian Panorama Section, International Film Festival of India
2008 Official Selection, Federation of Film Societies of India SIGNS
Included in UNESCO package on gender training & sexual health distributed by The Public Service Broadcasting Trust, New Delhi
2008 Indian National Television Broadcast
2007 The EU-India Conflict Resolution Programme, UK
2007 The Thompson Foundation, Cardiff, UK
2007 Channel 4 Network, 60 years of Indian Independence, UK
2007 Official Selection, Public Service Broadcasting International Film Festival, India
2006 The British Council Library, New Delhi, India
2006 The Rialto Theatre, Amsterdam
2006 Pink Apple Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Zurich, Switzerland
2005 Official Selection, The Berlin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
2005 Chicago Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival
2005 Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
2005 Official Selection, London Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
2005 Official Selection, Copenhagen Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Denmark
2005 Official Selection, Cineffable, Paris Feminist & Lesbian Film Festival
2005 Official Selection, Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival
2004 Official Selection, The British Film Institute Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, UK
2004 Official Selection, Larzish International Festival of Gender and Sexuality Mumbai
PUBLIC LECTURES & ARTIST TALKS
2021 Led by Her, Harvard Kennedy School of Government Leadership Program
2021 Filming the Muslim Woman, Conversation with journalist Teresa Rehman.
2020 International Documentary Association: Decolonize the Documentary
2020 Documentary Realism and Media Literacy: Christ Church University, Bengaluru, India
2020 Centering the Margins: On Screen Narratives, Privilege & Dynamics of Exclusion
I View World Human Rights Film Festival & New York South Asian Film Festival.
2020 Faith, Gender and Race in South Asian Identity, a panel with actor and entrepreneur Farah Bala and artist Sadiya Abjani, Farsight, NYC.
2020 Led by Her, Harvard Kennedy School of Government Leadership Program
2020 Documentary Film as Activism, Rochester Documentary Filmmakers
2019 Screenwriting Workshop, Mass TV Studios, New Delhi
2017 Documentary Practice: In Conversation with noted Indian writer, Urvashi Butalia
2017 Found in Transit: Notes on Hybrid Practice, Rochester Institute of Technology
2017 Cinema and Virtual Reality: Notes on Practice Frameless Labs RIT
2016 Transmedia Storytelling, Jamia Millia Islamia, India.
2016 Stories for Change: Us and Them Rochester Institute of Technology
2013 Improvisation and Indian Theatre: In conversation with theatre-director Mr. M.K. Raina, India
2012 Documentary Practice, Vadhera Art Gallery, Modern Indian and Contemporary Art India.
2012 Art Creates Change, Kym Preusse Lecture, Ontario College of Art and Design & York
University, Toronto, Canada.
2012 Refractions on Muslim Identity, Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
University of Pennsylvania.
2012 New Mobilities and Evolving Identities: Islam in South-East Asia, Berlin
2009 Personal is Political, Indo-Korea Women’s International Film Festival, Chennai, India
2008 Women, Conflict and Filmmaking, The Open Frame Film Festival, New Delhi, India
GRANTS
2021 Advance Connect Grant, Rochester Institute of Technology
2020 Global Fund for Women
2019 Advance Connect Grant, Rochester Institute of Technology
2019 Faculty Development Grant, Rochester Institute of Technology
2018 Advance Connect Grant, Rochester Institute of Technology,
2018 Faculty Development Grant, Rochester Institute of Technology
2016 Faculty Development Grant, Rochester Institute of Technology
2012 Philadelphia Independent Film and Video Grant
2012 The Public Service Broadcasting Trust, National Film Commission, India
2011 Philadelphia Independent Film and Video Grant
2011 University Project Completion Fellowship, Temple University
2010 University Exhibition and Distribution Grant, Temple University
2009 The Public Service Broadcasting Trust, National Film Commission, India
2007 The Public Service Broadcasting Trust, National Film Commission, India
ARTIST DEVELOPMENT
2020 Independent Filmmakers Project Week, NYC
2020 Producing Fundamentals, Molly Asher in conversation with Avril Speaks
2020 Immersive Editing, Doc NYC Webinar
Pitch Deck & Look Books with Olivia Klaus, Women Make Movies
2019 Sundance Collabs Directing Workshop with Peter Sollett
2018 Sundance Documentary Fundraising Webinar
2018 Sundance Screenwriting Webinar
2018 Catapult Documentary Funding Webinar
2018 ITVS How to Create an effective work sample Webinar
2018 Development Funds for Documentary Filmmakers, Women Make Movies Webinar
2017 Documentary Fundamentals: Post Production, Union Docs, NYC
2016 Filming in Cuba with Abbas Kiarostami
COMMERCIAL EXPERIENCE
2020 Screenwriting Workshop: Mass Studios, New Delhi. An international production house creating content for Netflix and Discovery Channel. Based in
New Delhi, India and Toronto, Canada.
2009 Editor/Sound Designer/ Sound Mixer for Laying Janaki to Rest.
Client: Ekaa Films & Public Service Broadcasting Trust, India
2008 Producer for We Can, an Oxfam India campaign to end violence against women.
Client: Oxfam India
2007 Editor for Pakistan: A Nation’s Journey. Director Sabiha Sumar. Supported by the SUNDANCE
FILM INSTITUTE, ZDF, Arté, Vidhi Films, the film has been broadcast on PBS Independent Lens.
2005 Action India, Protection of Women Against Domestic Violence Act
2005 Producer/Director/Editor for Barefoot Doctors: Experiments in Rural Health.
Client: HIVOS India
2004 Producer/Director/Editor for Rainbows. A documentary on primary school education in
India. Client: National Council for Education, Research & Training, India.
2003 Assistant Director/Assistant Editor of The City Beautiful. A documentary about a
community of traditional weavers facing loss of livelihood under globalization.
Client: Aakar Films & UNESCO, INDIA
2002 Production Assistant, SILENT WATERS. Feature length narrative, Director Sabiha Sumar
Golden Leopard Locarno Film Festival. Vidhi Films.
TEACHING
2015 Assistant Professor, College of Art and Design, Rochester Institute of Technology, New York
2012-2015Assistant Professor, Mass Communication Research Center, Jamia Millia Islamia, India
2007-2009 Visiting Professor, Mass Communication Research Center, Jamia Millia Islamia, India
2003-06 Adjunct Professor, Mass Communication Research Center, Jamia Millia Islamia, India
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Karvaan India: Take on Democracy, Advisory Board Member
Asian American Documentary Filmmakers Collective
Women Make Movies
Center for Asian American Media
Brown Girls Doc Mafia
Union Docs, New York City
Fulbright Alumni Association
Independent Filmmaker Project, New York City
International Women’s Association for Radio and Television
University Film and Video Association
Philadelphia Independent Film and Video Association
Rochester Documentary Filmmakers
TECHNICAL SKILLS
Arri Alexa, Arri D21
Sony Fs7, A7S3
Canon 5D Mark II/III, Canon C3
Aaton 16mm, Bolex
Final Cut Pro, Adobe Creative Suite
LANGUAGES
English, Hindi, Urdu
Arabic (Read-only)
