Biography

Riya is a South Asian filmmaker currently based in Brooklyn NY. She holds an MFA in Film from NYU Tisch, during which she worked on films which screened at festivals including Tribeca, SXSW, and Cannes. Her thesis short, "If You Show Me Yours I'll Show You Mine" is currently (dated: 2024) in post after winning screenwriting awards globally, including at Academy Qualifying Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival. She is an Associate Producer on two features in development, produced by Sway Bhatia (Succession) and is in the screening committees for Academy Qualified festivals such as Atlanta Film Festival, Woodstock Film Festival, BendFilm, amongst others. She is a quarter-finalist for the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Feature Film Award 2025 with her script "Spies in the Himalayas".
- IMDb mini biography by: Riya Agarwal