Shakti Bhagchandani

Shakti Bhagchandani is a filmmaker from the UAE. She completed her MFA in Screenwriting and Directing at Columbia University, where she began her career with a narrative short film titled Lostfound. The short gained recognition when it was showcased at the Sundance Film Festival, making her the first filmmaker from the UAE to be selected for the festival. Subsequently, the film was screened at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Chicago International Film Festival, New Orleans Film Festival, among many others. She has also co-written four additional short films: Khargosh, showcased at Palm Springs International Shortfest; Absent, a Vimeo Staff Pick that screened at the Hamptons Film Festival and New Orleans Film Festival; British by the Grace of God, which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival, Valladolid Film Festival, and Zagreb Film Festival; and Kingdom Come, which played at the Venice International Film Festival and Stockholm Film Festival (where it won the International Jury Award) and was nominated for a London Critics’ Circle Award. 

Currently, she is in post-production for another narrative short, titled Carousel, starring Olivia Washington and Phumzile Sitole. Furthermore, she is an alum of the Sundance Screenwriters Intensive Lab and a recipient of a Hollywood Foreign Press Association Fellowship. Beyond her filmmaking practice, she proudly serves as a Lecturer in Screenwriting at Yale University.