Meet the judges.

Uzair Surhio is a filmmaker and film programmer dedicated to championing untold South Asian stories. Through his films, he explores overlooked narratives that reveal the intricate social and cultural dimensions of the region. He also programs for other festivals, including Tasveer Film Festival and the South Asian Film Festival of Montreal, curating diverse and thought-provoking cinema.

Basundhara Ghosh runs a popular Instagram page called Gangs of Cinepur that focuses on discussions around cinema, and considers the online cinephile community an integral part of film appreciation. Professionally, she is an Assistant Professor of Physics at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru.

Aastha Verma is an India-born, Dubai-raised and Los Angeles-bred Director and Producer and Co-Founder of Saadhvish Films.

With more than forty fiction short and feature films to her credit, including The Last Rights, was qualified for the 95TH Oscars Nominations. Her most recent non-fiction work includes broadcast and streaming shows for National Geographic, Endemol Shine-Banijay Asia, Applause Entertainment, The International Cricket Council and Amazon Prime Video. She recently closed a Fiction series for BBC Studios as Showrunner. She has also Produced a slate of Music Videos for Indian Pop-star Diljit Dosanjh’s Album ‘G.O.A.T’

Verma has over seven years of experience across all formats in the Middle East, India and the USA, with her work exhibited in eminent festivals globally. She continues to develop a slate of home grown fiction and non-fiction features and TV shows dedicated to elevating South Asian Diaspora and Women's voices.

Neeraj Churi is a UK-based film producer of Indian-American origin. He started his film production journey to produce and promote films about LGBTQ+ communities after realizing the limited opportunities, especially in South Asia. His slate includes narrative and documentary features and shorts in India and the UK. His feature film, A Place of Our Own, won the audience choice award at SXSW 2023 in the USA. His short Holy Curse is on its run for the Academy awards. His WIP feature was invited to the Cannes Market. Other noteworthy titles include Sheer Qorma, Queer Parivaar, and many more. Through this production company, Lotus Visual Productions, he teams up with organizations in India to give grants and mentorships to underrepresented filmmakers for making their short films. He is part of the Tasveer Film Market, which aims to provide partnership and financing opportunities for the global South Asian film industry. An alumnus of the New York Film Academy, he also holds degrees in information science management.

Ashish Sawhny studied Film & Drama at the University of Reading, UK and has been directing, producing, acting & writing since 1992. Post 20 years in advertising film-making, Ashish moved into longer format film with corporates, documentary & ethnographic films across International & Indian markets.

With a focus on gender & sexuality, Ashish has produced/directed a range of documentary stories for various platforms since 2012 that have won awards & are screened at festivals & NGOs, as well as a number of advocacy related work. Over 2020-21, Ashish was ‘Series Director’ on ‘The Big Day’, Netflix India’s first documentary series, that was at #1 in India and trending in 8 other countries.

Additionally, Ashish is certified and has been practicing as a mental health counsellor, with a focus on person-centred counselling and queer affirmative practices, since 2022. Ashish has also been hosting “The Queer Podcast”, a series available across audio & video platforms that is now in its 2nd season, as well as doing cameos in films such as ‘Luck by Chance’, ‘Gully Boy’, ‘The Archie’s’, ‘Made in Heaven’ & ‘Kho Gaye Hum Kahan?’. He has been writing for commissioned anthologies and magazines as an independent writer the last few years, along with writing & developing projects for OTT platforms.

The young, Int Emmy® nominated filmmaker believes in the power of storytelling by bringing diverse characters into the most gripping narratives. Karn is a storyteller at heart; a perfect blend of creative, technical and leadership skills. He has experience in directing, producing and marketing content for various platforms including theatrical, TV, digital & OTT. Karn has worked on some of the biggest OTT shows of the country like Aarya, Showtime, The Empire and Trial, to name a few. Karn was born in Jaipur, Rajasthan and is now settled in Mumbai, India with his dog KOKO!

Elizabeth Wood Coldicutt, Producer of Mary Pickford, The Muse of the Movies, is president and co-founder of the Caroline Victoria Coldicutt Arts Foundation (CVC ARTS), a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization located in Palm Desert, California. CVC ARTS is dedicated to student arts education and provides funding for art scholarships, awards and art outreach programs to various US and international schools. The foundation’s mission is to empower student artists in all their creative endeavors including visual and fine arts, dance, theatre, media/film, photography and writing. Ms. Wood Coldicuttʼs life-long heroine is Mary Pickford which inspired her to produce Mary Pickford – A Star (1996), StarPower – The Creation of United Artists (1997) with Classic Vision Entertainment and Mary Pickford, The Muse of the Movies, a collaborative effort with Producer/Director Nicholas Eliopoulos. This documentary honors Ms. Pickford’s pioneering work and artistry during the birth of the American cinema. The film has been screened at ten film festivals including Pordenone Film Festival, Italy and Telluride Film Festival, winning an Honorary Satellite Award from the International Press Academy in 2009, Best Film at the Universal Film Festival in 2014, and a 2017 Emmy Award Nomination for “Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special.” Ms. Wood Coldicutt is currently producing Salvador Dali – Inside the Hollywood Years, a feature film documentary which will explore the surreal artist’s film collaborations and friendships with Hollywood’s elite filmmakers and stars.

Nominated for two News and Documentary Emmy Awards, Marta Cunningham is an accomplished actor turned first time filmmaker. A native of Northern California, she was so moved by the story of Lawrence King’s murder that she became embedded in Oxnard and soon began filming those whose lives were touched by the tragedy. The result was “Valentine Road”, a feature length documentary that was selected to compete in the U.S. Documentary Competition in the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and later premiered on HBO in October of 2013. “Valentine Road” has traveled to more than two hundred festivals, accruing thirteen awards. It is currently available on HBO GO.

Nikki Levy is a film executive — Head of Scripted Content at DreamWorks TV — and a television host. She is the creator, producer, and host of the Los Angeles based comedy show Don’t Tell My Mother, a show where writers and performers in the film and television industry tell stories they would never want their mothers to hear. She also serves as Vice President at Fox’s Wedge Works World Wide.

Alison Fraser is a two-time Tony Award nominee for The Secret Garden and Romance/Romance, a Drama Desk Award nominee for both The Secret Garden, and First Daughter Suite and a Carbonell Award winner for Romance/Romance. Fraser is a Callaway Award-winner for Heartbreak House. She played “Tessie Tura” in the New York City Center and Broadway productions of Gypsy starring Patti LuPone under the direction of Arthur Laurents. She was the first ever recipient of Philadelphia’s Barrymore Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of “The Blonde” in Marion Adler, Scott Wentworth and Craig Boehmler’s film noir musical.

Anjul Nigam recently completed “Crown Vic,” serving as its lead producer with Alec Baldwin and starring Thomas Jane, Luke Kleintank, Bridget Moynahan and David Krumholtz. The movie had its World Premiere at Tribeca Film Festival garnering the biggest sale from over 100 feature films, and Screen Media subsequently released it theatrically in twenty US cities and is currently available OnDemand on all major platforms. Most recently, Nigam served as the lead producer on the feature film “Bayou Caviar,” Oscar Winner Cuba Gooding Jr.’s directorial debut in which Gooding also stars opposite Oscar Winner Richard Dreyfuss, Famke Janssen, and Katharine McPhee.

Has worn many hats in her career, from Executive Producer of International Film festival to Vice President of an International Security Company. Her measure of success is to see others achieve their goals and dreams. She also holds a burning desire to give back in a big way and leave something memorable for the generations. Her idea of joy is to see hard work, honesty and integrity being rewarded.

Todd Waring is an American actor, best known for replacing Tom Hanks in the roles in both the television series version of Nothing in Common, as well as Splash, Too. He has played minor roles in various films and television series, including The Stiller and Meara Show, Wings and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He has acted in Netflix’s American Crime Story , Scandal and Recently he is acting in Apple Tv + Tv series – Servant Directed by legendary hollywood Director M. Night Shyamalan.

Sheeba Chadha is a theatre and film actor with a large body of work in the OTT world as well. She has worked as a collaborative artist across mediums for over two and half decades. Her work in the theatre includes plays like C for Clown(directed by Rajat Kapoor), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead and The Blue Mug(directed by Atul Kumar) and Hedda Gabler and Far Away(directed by Rehaan Engineer). She was granted The Charles Wallace scholarship for theatre , which funded a summer course at The Royal Academy for Dramatic Arts and an apprenticeship with The Big Telly theatre company in Northern Ireland .

One of her most recent work in the theatre includes a devised, solo performance titled ‘Sleep’ performed and directed by herself, inspired by the writings of Haruki Murakami. Last year In December she created a performance piece commissioned by the Serendipity Festival in Goa, for which She created a theatre script adapted from Adam Phillips ‘ book, ‘Houdini s Box’ . She also directed the piece and acted in it . Sheeba has also had an illustrious career in cinema and television and the digital world spanning over two decades. She has been a part of several block buster films over the years like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Dil Se, Luck by Chance, Delhi 6, Talaash, Murder, Dum Laga ke Haisa, Raees , Raid , Jabariya Jodi, Badhai Ho , Gully Boy ,Zero etc . She just finished shooting for Sikhya Entertainment’s film , Paglait and Abundantia ‘s film Shakuntala Devi., Mc Guffin Films film Sharmaji Namkeen . Her international projects are West is West, What will People say , Sahasi Chhori etc . She is also a part of Mira Nairs web Series based on the The Suitable Boy . Her recent web series include Mirzapur and Banish Bandits for Amazon , Tajmahal 1989 on Netflix and Permanent Roommates for TVF , to name a few .Inspite of all these commitments,Sheeba continues to keep one foot firmly embedded in the world of theatre.

Nicholas Eliopoulos, a two-time Emmy-winning producer, editor and director, won “Best Film” at the Universal International Film Festival for his documentary covering the first 25-year history of American Cinema and its first movie star entitled Mary Pickford, The Muse of the Movies which was narrated by Michael York. The film was produced with fellow Producer Elizabeth Wood Coldicutt and sold to Turner Classic Movies after finishing runs in over 10 World Film Festivals, including Telluride and Toronto, plus the prestigious Pordenone International Film Festival in Italy. Mr. Eliopoulos’ previous documentaries, Vision of a New World starring Marsha Mason and Ted Danson plus his Russia, A Century of Change about the 100-year history of Russia ending with the fall of the Soviet Union which is narrated by Sharon Gless, were both internationally-reviewed and well received.

Mariana Méndez Alejandre is a Mexican film producer based in New York City. She has produced several acclaimed short films including Zero Hour written by Oscar and BAFTA nominee Guillermo Arriaga. Her latest film under her production company banner Mindsoup Entertainment, Humo (Smoke), was shortlisted for the 96th Academy Awards® after premiering at the Annecy International Film Festival.

Scott Moore is a feature film writer and director best known for The Hangover and Bad Moms. Since 1999 he has been working with long time writing partner Jon Lucas.

Moore co-wrote The Hangover, winner of the 2010 Golden Globe for Best Comedy. The script earned him a nomination for Best Original Screenplay from both the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).

Moore co-wrote and co-directed the sleeper hit Bad Moms which was the highest grossing R-rated comedy of the year and won the People’s Choice Award for Best Comedy of 2016. Following the success of Bad Moms, Moore co-wrote and co-directed the sequel, A Bad Moms Christmas. Moore and Lucas are currently working on a third movie in the franchise, tentatively entitled Bad Moms’ Moms.

Moore’s other credits include Four Christmases, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, The Change-Up, Office Christmas Party and 21 & Over, which he also co-directed.

Moore was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is an alumnus of Punahou School and the University of Colorado where he studied film and economics.