Deepti DCunha is a Mumbai-based Film Programmer specialising in Contemporary Indian & South Asian Cinema. She is currently the Programmer for South Asia at Red Sea Int’l Film Festival and a Consultant with Fondazione Prada Film Fund. She has been the Artistic Director of MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in 2023 & 2024. She has been the sole features programmer for ‘Viewing Room’ section and the ‘WIP Lab’ for India’s largest Film Market, NFDC Film Bazaar, from 2011-2022. She has also worked as a South Asian Consultant across prestigious International Film Festivals for the past fifteen years, which include Venice, Rome, Locarno, Directors' Fortnight at Cannes, Pingyao and other Chinese festivals. She has served as a Jury member for festivals in Switzerland, Nairobi, China, Nepal and Russia. She is passionate about sourcing cinematic talent and providing a festival platform to independent filmmakers from South Asia.
Dr. Anjali Monteiro is a documentary filmmaker, researcher and teacher. Jointly with Dr. K.P. Jayasankar, she has won 33 national and international awards, their most recent being the Jury's commendation in the Intangible Culture category for A Delicate Weave at the Royal Anthropological Institute Festival, UK, 2019. She co-authored the national award-winning book A Fly in the Curry: Independent Documentary Film in India (Sage, 2016). She retired as Professor and Dean, School of Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. She received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Contribution to Film Education from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India—more about her work at http://www.monteiro-jayasankar.com/.
Garth Davis's work has been recognized in every major award show around the world. His rigorous commitment to detail, cinematic sensibilities and deep appreciation of the actor-director relationship are his trademark. Garth most recently directed Foe for Amazon, based on the novel of the same name and starring Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal. It premiered at the 2023 New York Film Festival. He is best known for his directorial feature debut Lion, which was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture, and for which Garth won a DGA Award. Garth's second feature film Mary Magdalene starred Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix, and on the television side he directed Top of the Lake alongside director Jane Campion, for which he received Emmy and BAFTA nominations.
Adrienne McKibbins is one of Australia’s most respected film critics and academics, with a deep and long-standing interest in Indian and Asian cinema. She has served on numerous prestigious juries at film festivals across India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Australia, bringing her expertise and insight to each. Adrienne's extensive experience spans roles as a festival director, cinema programmer, film administrator, and researcher. She has also served as a consultant to the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, specifically advising on Indian cinema. Her contributions to the industry continue to shape and support the appreciation of Asian cinema on a global stage.
Awarded the Screen Leader Award for Outstanding Leadership, Achievement and Services to the Screen Industry, Nadia Tass is one of Australia’s most iconoclastic directors of both stage and screen. Known internationally, she directed the Australian classic feature films "Malcolm", "The Big Steal, "Amy", and "Matching Jack", as well as high end television for the BBC, Universal Studios, Disney, Warner Bros, and CBS including the ratings hit "The Miracle Worker" for ABC. She has also directed three "American Girl" movies. Nadia was honoured by the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles with a retrospective of her work. Retrospectives have also played in Cape Town, India and Moscow. Nadia recently directed the feature documentary "Oleg". Nadia's work has received over 70 international awards including Best Director AFI ("Malcolm"); Best Director, Milan International Film Festival and Best Film Cannes Cinephile Prix du Jury ("Matching Jack"); Le Grande Prix du Cinecole and Les Mureaux Grand Prix (Cannes Junior) at Cannes Film Festival ("Amy").
Anna M.M. Vetticad is an award-winning journalist, author of The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic, and feminist. She is known for her unique no-holds-barred critiques of cinema from a socio-political perspective, and her fearless commentary on current affairs. She is a women’s rights and minority rights advocate.
Naman Ramachandran is an international correspondent with Variety with South Asia, Southeast Asia, U.K. and Ireland as territory specialties. Naman’s work as an author includes Rajinikanth: The Definitive Biography (Penguin) and Lights, Camera, Masala: Making Movies In Mumbai (IBH). He is the writer and a producer of the Netflix original film Brahman Naman.
Shubhra Gupta is an award-winning Indian journalist, author, and film critic who currently writes columns for The Indian Express. She has crafted an impressive career as a film critic for over thirty years, and has also written the book 50 Films That Changed Bollywood which centred around the development of the Indian film Industry. Shubhra has also served as a member of the Central Board of Film Certification from 2012 to 2015. From this, we went on to win the Ramnath Goenka Award for Best Writing on Cinema in 2012. Shubhra is one of the most regarded film critics of India. We are privileged to have Shubhra join our IFFM web series jury for the 2022 Indian Film Festival of Melbourne!
