About Rishi

Rishi Chandna is a self-taught independent filmmaker based in Mumbai and Goa, working under his own production label - Chicken Roll Films. Currently he is developing his first feature-length fiction film titled GHOL/THE CATCH. The project has been mentored at the 2021 Sundance Screenwriters Lab, and selected at the Cannes Film Market 2021, the 2021 NFDC Film Bazaar Co-Production Market and the 2021 Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum where it won the top HAF Fiction Award for a non – Hong Kong project.

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The Feast (‘Virundhu’ in Tamil) is his first work of short fiction and was awarded the Special Jury Award at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in February 2024. The film is part of an anthology of three short fiction films Rishi is making, that represent marginalised communities dealing with issues of climate change and political disenfranchisement in the context of water pollution, access and inequality.

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His debut short film, TUNGRUS (2018), a black comedy about a Mumbai suburban family divided over eating their dominating pet rooster, was shown at Hot Docs, Visions Du Reel, BFI London Film Festival, IDFA and became an Oscar-qualifying short documentary after winning at Slamdance Film Festival. Tungrus has released online on the prestigious New York Times’ OP-DOCS, PBS POV SHORTS, The Criterion Channel and several other platforms such as Atlantic Selects, Amazon Prime, Vimeo (Staff Pick) and Aeon Magazine. His second short film, PARTY POSTER (2022), a satirical documentary about the political poster culture in India, has shown at Palm Springs International Film Festival, Krakow Film Festival, DocAviv, Glasgow Short Film Festival and more, and was also launched online on New York Times’ OP-DOCS.

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