Richa Hushing: Alumna of Film and Television Institute of India (TV Direction 2005), Richa Hushing began her work with Majlis, an interdisciplinary, multi-formats art initiative in Bombay, where she joined ‘Godaam’, a storehouse of documentary film footage. Access Digital Media Archive, an online repository of densely text-annotated video material, primarily footage. It was her tryst with this ‘time’ that did not find space in film, but was still no less telling, that crafted her subsequent practice as an audiovisual archivist, an editor and a documentary filmmaker. Between 2006-08 Richa helmed the ‘The Dharavi Documentation Project’ filming character portraits and communities during one of the most volatile phases of redevelopment. Her portrait film ‘Director Painter Shri Baburao Laad Saheb’ running 5 star acting school in Dharavi got showcased in Retrospective of Indian Documentaries – Iran International Documentary Film Festival, 2013 – among others. In 2014 she won the Maharashtra State Award for her film ‘Devrai -the Sacred Groves’. ‘Nicobar, a long way…’ (2017), observing aboriginal islanders’ identity and resilience in wake of Tsunami received accolades in international anthropological and environmental film festivals: Ethnografilm Festival, Paris; Royal Anthropological Film Festival, Bristol; World Film Festival, Estonia; Viscult – The festival of Visual Culture, Finland; Film South Asia, Nepal; Smaragdni Eco Film Festival, Croatia; Pêcheurs du monde, France; and a special mention award at the Millennium Film Festival, Brussels. After a decade-long practice based in Mumbai, she and her partner Rrivu Laha moved to Auroville, an international township (2017) and founded the Auroville Film Institute (2019). Richa works as Creative Director and Curriculum Designer, curating and conducting cinema-centric learning journeys in an experimental modality. Currently she is also making a biographical film on Padma Shri Awarded archaeologist, K K Muhammed – for NFDC.
Rrivu Laha: graduated from St. Xaviers College Calcutta in Mass Communication and Video Production (2003); he did PG diploma in Motion Picture Cinematography from Film and Television Institute of India, Pune (2007). His documentary filmography began with student film ‘Aamchi Kasauti’ (2006) winning Best Documentary at IBDA Dubai and at Jeevika Film Festival of Livelihoods; selected in Mumbai International Film Festival and Tehran International Film Festival (2006). ‘Vasudev, the singing minstrels of Maharashtra (2007) won Special Jury Mention at Youth New Wave, Sri Lanka; ‘Dhananjay Kulkarni ‘Chandragupt (2009) won a ‘Special Jury Mention’ at Jeevika International Film Festival Film Festival (2011) and showcased in the Retrospective of Indian Documentaries – Iran International Documentary Film Festival (2013). As a Cinematographer, his work began with ‘Thread’ that showcased in 64th Locarno International Film Festival and Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival among others. He has worked as DoP for short films, ads and documentaries. As a film and media practitioner, critical media pedagogy has been Rrivu’s chief preoccupations. He has actively sought to contextualize and contemporise his cinematographic practice in a rapidly evolving media environment. His interest in media for education brought to his repertoire, his role as a Creative Producer of educational projects: ‘1000 science activity videos for IL&FS Education Technology’ (2011-13) ‘Audiovisual Training Modules’ for various silvicultural and forestry practices (2013-16); other technology interventions, public service spots and process documentation projects. Post his stint in the Nicobar Group of Islands as associate director and cinematographer for a documentary ‘Nicobar, a long way…’(2017), Rrivu moved to Auroville with his partner, Richa Hushing. He envisioned and co-executed ‘Auroville Timelines’ an in-situ video art project, born out of research of Auroville’s archival footage (2017-19). In 2019 Rrivu co-founded Auroville Film Institute to experiment with a new pedagogy, encouraging new practices in cinematic arts. He has directed Hands On Documentary Film Workshops in Ladakh, Rann of Kutch and in Auroville along with his collaborator, Richa Hushing.
Auroville Film Institute 