Education
1993
MFA, Film/Video Program. California Institute of the Arts
1990
BFA, Film/Video Program. California Institute of the Arts
1985
FA, Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles.
Filmography
Present
In Progress:
India Inc. Experimental travelogue through India, looking at ‘development’ hype and reality. Director/Producer/Editor/Camera
In Progress:
Testament Documentary about the survivors of British concentration camps in Kenya during the struggle for independence. Producer, Co-directing with Zippy Kimundu
2015
Asha, (9mins) Short narrative film, shot in Nairobi, Kenya, about a woman’s encounter with the police as she has “the wrong name” Director/Producer
2013
Parinama, 8mins, Director, Narrative film produced in Project Involve/Film Independent Lab
2012
Transmissions of Alphaville Redux. 15 mins Co-Director with Tommy Gear
2 channel video exploring issues of surveillance within the USA (updated from 2008 version). Screening at Videonale 14, Bonn 2013
Here and Away, 10 mins. Producer/Director
Short film inspired by Children on a Country Road by Franz Kafka. Funded by The Peter Reed Foundation.. International festival screenings
2008
1000 Years, 2 min. Director
Short film commissioned by Cinétévé France as a part of Visual Telegrammes, a series of 30 films to raise environmental awareness. With the participation of ORANGE CINEMA SERIES. Broadcast on ARTE France.
Transmissions from Alphaville, 15 min. Co-producer/Co-Director with Tommy Gear
2 channel video exploring issues of surveillance within the USA.
2006
View from a Grain of Sand 82 min. Director/Co-Producer
Full-length broadcast documentary about the recent history of Afghan women,
Aired on PBS, USA 2009 – 2010; “24 x 7”, NDTV India in 2008; and PressTV, Iran 2010
2004
Video Installation, 4 channel video for Prism, 18th St. Arts Complex, Santa Monica, CA
2002
Living in Colour, 44 min. Producer/Director
Video documentary about 2nd generation South Asian youth in Los Angeles,
1998
Looking For Another Girl, 3.30 min. Co-Producer/Co-Director
1996
It is a Crime, 5 min Producer/Director
Experimental images set to a poem by Shani Mootoo
Net of Jewels, 40 min Producer/Director
Experimental narrative about three generations of women and their migration from India to Kenya to the USA
1995
Our Dead Behind Us 29 min. Line-Producer
Experimental narrative film for Channel 4 Television, UK, a tribute to the life
and work of Audre Lorde. Director: Sonali Fernando
1992
Voices of the Morning, 13.45 min. Producer/Director
Video exploring the effects of orthodox Islamic law upon a woman subject to these laws
Aired on PBS 1993 and 1994
Grants/awards
2014
Bellagio Residency, Rockefeller Foundation. Residency Dates: October 2014
Reykjavic Film Festival Directing Lab, September 2014
2012-2013
Film Independent, Project Involve Lab Participant, Los Angeles
Peter Reed Foundation Grant
Here and Away
Stellar Selection, (Best Narrative Award) Black Maria Film + Video Festival
Best Experimental Short, Oaxaca FilmFest,
Award of Merit, Lucerne International Film Festival
Nomination for Golden Reel Short Film Award at Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
2010
Santa Monica Artists Fellowship Award
Asha
2008 View From A Grain of Sand
Mumbai International Film Festival, India, Silver Conch Award
2007
Canada International Film Festival, Best Documentary Award
Seattle South Asian Festival Audience Award, Best Documentary Feature
Nominee: Los Angeles International Asian American Film Festival
Grand Jury Award, Documentary
Nominee: Santa Barbara International Film Festival Social Justice Award
2006
Nominee:?International Documentary Association, Best Documentary Feature 2006 Shortlist
Nominee: San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival?
Best Documentary Feature
2005
Center for Asian American Media [CAAM] Media Completion Grant
Rockefeller Intercultural Film/Video Media Arts Fellowship Award
Durfee Foundation Grant, finishing funds
Women in Film Foundation Grant, finishing funds
2004
CAAM Media Production Grant
2003
National Endowment for the Arts Grant
Pacific Pioneer Fund Grant
2000 Living in Colour
Regional Arts Grant, Cultural Affairs Department, Los Angeles
1998
Residency at American Film Institute California Digital Workshop
1996 It is A Crime
Best Experimental Video, Image Film/Video Festival, Atlanta, Georgia
Director’s Award, Black Maria Film Festival
1995
Lee Annenberg Grant
1995 Net of Jewels
Rockefeller Intercultural Film/Video Fellowship Award
1994
American Film Institute Independent Film/Videomaker Grant
Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Film/Video
NEA Western Regional Media Arts Grant
Voices of the Morning
Best Experimental Video Award, Image Festival, Atlanta Georgia
Cultural Award (WDR), First place, Videonale 6, Bonn, Germany
1993
Juror's Award, Black Maria Film/Video Festival
Residency at the Robert Flaherty Seminar, New York.
1992
5-week Residency in the Media Arts Program at the Banff Centre for the Arts.
1991
Lynn Blumenthal Memorial Fund Grant
NAATA Media Grant
Lectures/panels
2010
Presenter, View from a Grain of Sand at MIT Center for International Studies;
Presenter, UC Santa Barbara, Middle Eastern Studies;
Presenter, California Lutheran University, Women and Gender Studies.
2009
Panelist at Persistent Resistance, New Delhi India
Presenter, View from a Grain of Sand at the UC Santa Barbara Center for Middle East Studies Conference: Centering Central Asia: Gender, State, and Nation
2008
Various Universities presenting View from a Grain of Sand, including, UCLA, USC, Cal State Northridge, Pomona Community College, Glendale Community College, etc.
2006
Juror, Durfee Foundation
2005
Juror, NAATA Open Call Funding for Film/Video
Toronto Documentary Forum, Toronto, Canada, pitching View from a Grain of Sand
2004
Rice University, Symposium on Afghanistan.
2002
Panelist at Yatra Conference on South Asia, at Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, California.
Conference panelist at 4th International Women’s Film Festival, Seoul, South Korea. Topic: media, feminist video practice and activism.
Presentation of View from a Grain of Sand, work in progress at “Daring Women” conference, Vancouver, Canada.
2001
Panelist, Amnesty International teach-in on Afghanistan. Moderated by Arianna Huffington
Guest Lecturer, USC, Media theory/documentary class
Guest Lecturer, Cal State Long Beach, Film/Video Studies.
Guest Lecturer, UC Irvine, Art Department, Film/Video production.
Panelist, California Institute of the Arts teach-in on Afghanistan.
Guest artist, Pitzer College, Claremont Colleges, California, teach-in on Afghanistan.
Panelist at Sarai Media Collective in New Delhi, India, seminar on new media technology and independent film/video production.
1998
Guest Lecturer UCLA, South Asian representation seminar.
Guest lecturer UC Santa Barbara, Art and Media Class
1999
Guest Artist Art Institute of Chicago, Graduate studies seminar.
Guest lecturer UC Santa Barbara, Asian American Film/Video Class
1996
Juror, Rockefeller Intercultural Film/Video Awards
1995
Panelist: Pacific Film Archives, Berkeley, CA. Series on Women & Islam, film & video
Guest Artist, Video Art Dept., UC San Diego
1994
Pre-selection panel, experimental and animation sections of AFI IFVP applications
Curator, Film Forum First Sight Seen Program, Dec. 1994
1993
Guest artist, Asian American film/video fundamentals class, UC Santa Barbara.
Guest artist, Video class, UC Irvine.
Panelist: Consol(e)-ing Passions, Women in Film and Television, 3rd Annual Conference, USC. Independent video-makers panel.
Desh Pardesh, Toronto. South Asian Arts Festival. Guest video-maker.
1992
Panelist: Insight Women’s Film/Video Festival, Edmonton, Canada. Women in Independent Media panel.
Distributors
New Day Films
Journeyman Pictures [UK]
Women Make Movies
Video Data Bank
V-Tape [Canada]
Selected screenings
1992-2015
Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival
Raindance Film Festival
Berlin International Film & Video Festival
New York International Film & Video Festival
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Cinema Verite Iran International Film Festival
Mumbai International Film Festival, India
Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, Greece
Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, UK
RedCat Theater, Los Angeles, USA
Ljubljiana Int’l Film Festival, Slovenia
Whitney Museum of American Art, NY
Museum of Modern Art, NY
Women’s International Film Festival, Rehovot, Israel
Women’s International Film Festival,?Seoul, Korea
We the People Film Festival, Seattle South Asian Film Festival, Seattle, WA, USA
Dochouse and Frontline Club Screenings, Ritzy Cinema, London, UK
VC Film Fest, Los Angeles, USA
Arab & Arab-American Film Festival, Third I, New York, USA
IFP Market, New York, USA
San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival
Kathmandu International Film Festival, Nepal
Third I South Asian Film Festival, San Francisco, CA, USA
KARA Film Festival, Pakistan
Rio Mix Festival, Brazil
Desh Pardesh Festival, Toronto
Sakhi for South Asian Women, NY
Women in the Director’s Chair, Chicago
Outfest, Los Angeles
Beyond Destination, Ikon Gallery, England
ICA, London
International Women’s Film Festival, Vancouver
New Visions, Scotland
AVE Festival, Holland
EarthPeace Festival
Court Metrage Festival, Belgium
Visual Communications Festival LA
L.A. Freewaves.
Other
Lead Documentay Mentor, Maisha Film Lab 2- week workshop, Kampala, Uganda 2014
Founding Partner/Lead Trainer/Executive Board Member: GlobalGirl Media, non-profit digital media training organization for girls in underserved communities. Programs in Los Angeles, Oakland & Chicago, USA; Soweto, S. Africa; Rabat, Morocco. 2008 - present
Board Member: Afghan Women’s Mission: 2010 - present
Board Member: Help Women Heal, Boston: 2010 - present
Founding Member: ArtWallah: South Asian Arts Festival based in Los Angeles 1999
Board Member: Artwallah 1999 - 2003
Board Member: L.A Freewaves 1996 - 1999
Meena Nanji
Education 1993 MFA, Film/Video Program. California Institute of the Arts 1990 BFA, Film/Video Program. California Institute of the Arts 1985 FA, Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles. Filmography Present In Progress: India Inc. Experimental travelogue through India, looking at ‘development’ hype and reality. Director/Producer/Editor/Camera In Progress: Testament Documentary about the survivors of British concentration camps in Kenya during the struggle for independence. Producer, Co-directing with Zippy Kimundu 2015 Asha, (9mins) Short narrative film, shot in Nairobi, Kenya, about a woman’s encounter with the police as she has “the wrong name” Director/Producer 2013 Parinama, 8mins, Director, Narrative film produced in Project Involve/Film Independent Lab 2012 Transmissions of Alphaville Redux. 15 mins Co-Director with Tommy Gear 2 channel video exploring issues of surveillance within the USA (updated from 2008 version). Screening at Videonale 14, Bonn 2013 Here and Away, 10 mins. Producer/Director Short film inspired by Children on a Country Road by Franz Kafka. Funded by The Peter Reed Foundation.. International festival screenings 2008 1000 Years, 2 min. Director Short film commissioned by Cinétévé France as a part of Visual Telegrammes, a series of 30 films to raise environmental awareness. With the participation of ORANGE CINEMA SERIES. Broadcast on ARTE France. Transmissions from Alphaville, 15 min. Co-producer/Co-Director with Tommy Gear 2 channel video exploring issues of surveillance within the USA. 2006 View from a Grain of Sand 82 min. Director/Co-Producer Full-length broadcast documentary about the recent history of Afghan women, Aired on PBS, USA 2009 – 2010; “24 x 7”, NDTV India in 2008; and PressTV, Iran 2010 2004 Video Installation, 4 channel video for Prism, 18th St. Arts Complex, Santa Monica, CA 2002 Living in Colour, 44 min. Producer/Director Video documentary about 2nd generation South Asian youth in Los Angeles, 1998 Looking For Another Girl, 3.30 min. Co-Producer/Co-Director 1996 It is a Crime, 5 min Producer/Director Experimental images set to a poem by Shani Mootoo Net of Jewels, 40 min Producer/Director Experimental narrative about three generations of women and their migration from India to Kenya to the USA 1995 Our Dead Behind Us 29 min. Line-Producer Experimental narrative film for Channel 4 Television, UK, a tribute to the life and work of Audre Lorde. Director: Sonali Fernando 1992 Voices of the Morning, 13.45 min. Producer/Director Video exploring the effects of orthodox Islamic law upon a woman subject to these laws Aired on PBS 1993 and 1994 Grants/awards 2014 Bellagio Residency, Rockefeller Foundation. Residency Dates: October 2014 Reykjavic Film Festival Directing Lab, September 2014 2012-2013 Film Independent, Project Involve Lab Participant, Los Angeles Peter Reed Foundation Grant Here and Away Stellar Selection, (Best Narrative Award) Black Maria Film + Video Festival Best Experimental Short, Oaxaca FilmFest, Award of Merit, Lucerne International Film Festival Nomination for Golden Reel Short Film Award at Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2010 Santa Monica Artists Fellowship Award Asha 2008 View From A Grain of Sand Mumbai International Film Festival, India, Silver Conch Award 2007 Canada International Film Festival, Best Documentary Award Seattle South Asian Festival Audience Award, Best Documentary Feature Nominee: Los Angeles International Asian American Film Festival Grand Jury Award, Documentary Nominee: Santa Barbara International Film Festival Social Justice Award 2006 Nominee:?International Documentary Association, Best Documentary Feature 2006 Shortlist Nominee: San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival? Best Documentary Feature 2005 Center for Asian American Media [CAAM] Media Completion Grant Rockefeller Intercultural Film/Video Media Arts Fellowship Award Durfee Foundation Grant, finishing funds Women in Film Foundation Grant, finishing funds 2004 CAAM Media Production Grant 2003 National Endowment for the Arts Grant Pacific Pioneer Fund Grant 2000 Living in Colour Regional Arts Grant, Cultural Affairs Department, Los Angeles 1998 Residency at American Film Institute California Digital Workshop 1996 It is A Crime Best Experimental Video, Image Film/Video Festival, Atlanta, Georgia Director’s Award, Black Maria Film Festival 1995 Lee Annenberg Grant 1995 Net of Jewels Rockefeller Intercultural Film/Video Fellowship Award 1994 American Film Institute Independent Film/Videomaker Grant Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Film/Video NEA Western Regional Media Arts Grant Voices of the Morning Best Experimental Video Award, Image Festival, Atlanta Georgia Cultural Award (WDR), First place, Videonale 6, Bonn, Germany 1993 Juror's Award, Black Maria Film/Video Festival Residency at the Robert Flaherty Seminar, New York. 1992 5-week Residency in the Media Arts Program at the Banff Centre for the Arts. 1991 Lynn Blumenthal Memorial Fund Grant NAATA Media Grant Lectures/panels 2010 Presenter, View from a Grain of Sand at MIT Center for International Studies; Presenter, UC Santa Barbara, Middle Eastern Studies; Presenter, California Lutheran University, Women and Gender Studies. 2009 Panelist at Persistent Resistance, New Delhi India Presenter, View from a Grain of Sand at the UC Santa Barbara Center for Middle East Studies Conference: Centering Central Asia: Gender, State, and Nation 2008 Various Universities presenting View from a Grain of Sand, including, UCLA, USC, Cal State Northridge, Pomona Community College, Glendale Community College, etc. 2006 Juror, Durfee Foundation 2005 Juror, NAATA Open Call Funding for Film/Video Toronto Documentary Forum, Toronto, Canada, pitching View from a Grain of Sand 2004 Rice University, Symposium on Afghanistan. 2002 Panelist at Yatra Conference on South Asia, at Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, California. Conference panelist at 4th International Women’s Film Festival, Seoul, South Korea. Topic: media, feminist video practice and activism. Presentation of View from a Grain of Sand, work in progress at “Daring Women” conference, Vancouver, Canada. 2001 Panelist, Amnesty International teach-in on Afghanistan. Moderated by Arianna Huffington Guest Lecturer, USC, Media theory/documentary class Guest Lecturer, Cal State Long Beach, Film/Video Studies. Guest Lecturer, UC Irvine, Art Department, Film/Video production. Panelist, California Institute of the Arts teach-in on Afghanistan. Guest artist, Pitzer College, Claremont Colleges, California, teach-in on Afghanistan. Panelist at Sarai Media Collective in New Delhi, India, seminar on new media technology and independent film/video production. 1998 Guest Lecturer UCLA, South Asian representation seminar. Guest lecturer UC Santa Barbara, Art and Media Class 1999 Guest Artist Art Institute of Chicago, Graduate studies seminar. Guest lecturer UC Santa Barbara, Asian American Film/Video Class 1996 Juror, Rockefeller Intercultural Film/Video Awards 1995 Panelist: Pacific Film Archives, Berkeley, CA. Series on Women & Islam, film & video Guest Artist, Video Art Dept., UC San Diego 1994 Pre-selection panel, experimental and animation sections of AFI IFVP applications Curator, Film Forum First Sight Seen Program, Dec. 1994 1993 Guest artist, Asian American film/video fundamentals class, UC Santa Barbara. Guest artist, Video class, UC Irvine. Panelist: Consol(e)-ing Passions, Women in Film and Television, 3rd Annual Conference, USC. Independent video-makers panel. Desh Pardesh, Toronto. South Asian Arts Festival. Guest video-maker. 1992 Panelist: Insight Women’s Film/Video Festival, Edmonton, Canada. Women in Independent Media panel. Distributors New Day Films Journeyman Pictures [UK] Women Make Movies Video Data Bank V-Tape [Canada] Selected screenings 1992-2015 Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival Raindance Film Festival Berlin International Film & Video Festival New York International Film & Video Festival National Gallery of Art, Washington DC Cinema Verite Iran International Film Festival Mumbai International Film Festival, India Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, Greece Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, UK RedCat Theater, Los Angeles, USA Ljubljiana Int’l Film Festival, Slovenia Whitney Museum of American Art, NY Museum of Modern Art, NY Women’s International Film Festival, Rehovot, Israel Women’s International Film Festival,?Seoul, Korea We the People Film Festival, Seattle South Asian Film Festival, Seattle, WA, USA Dochouse and Frontline Club Screenings, Ritzy Cinema, London, UK VC Film Fest, Los Angeles, USA Arab & Arab-American Film Festival, Third I, New York, USA IFP Market, New York, USA San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival Kathmandu International Film Festival, Nepal Third I South Asian Film Festival, San Francisco, CA, USA KARA Film Festival, Pakistan Rio Mix Festival, Brazil Desh Pardesh Festival, Toronto Sakhi for South Asian Women, NY Women in the Director’s Chair, Chicago Outfest, Los Angeles Beyond Destination, Ikon Gallery, England ICA, London International Women’s Film Festival, Vancouver New Visions, Scotland AVE Festival, Holland EarthPeace Festival Court Metrage Festival, Belgium Visual Communications Festival LA L.A. Freewaves. Other Lead Documentay Mentor, Maisha Film Lab 2- week workshop, Kampala, Uganda 2014 Founding Partner/Lead Trainer/Executive Board Member: GlobalGirl Media, non-profit digital media training organization for girls in underserved communities. Programs in Los Angeles, Oakland & Chicago, USA; Soweto, S. Africa; Rabat, Morocco. 2008 - present Board Member: Afghan Women’s Mission: 2010 - present Board Member: Help Women Heal, Boston: 2010 - present Founding Member: ArtWallah: South Asian Arts Festival based in Los Angeles 1999 Board Member: Artwallah 1999 - 2003 Board Member: L.A Freewaves 1996 - 1999