Biography

Rishi Chandna is an independent filmmaker based in India. He began his career in Mumbai producing behind-the-scenes content in Bollywood, assisting directors and producers, and directing commercials before making a deliberate shift to independent cinema with his breakout short documentary Tungrus (2018). Since then, his non fiction work, including Tungrus (about a family living with a terrorizing pet rooster), Party Poster (examining political propaganda in public spaces), and Gold Man (exploring society’s obsession with wealth and opulence), has screened at major festivals including Hot Docs, IDFA, Visions Du Réel, Palm Springs, and London Film Festival. Utilizing a quirky, satirical tone across creative and hybrid forms to explore social absurdities and obsessions, these self-financed films have been acquired by The New York Times Op-Docs, Public Broadcasting Service, and The Criterion Channel.

His first work of short fiction, Virundhu (The Feast), won the Special Jury Award at the Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival (2024), screened at Sydney Film Festival and Climate Week New York City, and was acquired by Canal + and France Television. The second, Kanippu (The Prediction), premiered at Jogja International Film Festival (2025), while the third, The Cure, is in post-production.

In 2021, his feature screenplay Ghol (The Catch) was selected for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab. The project went on to win the top Fiction Award at the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum and was showcased at the Cannes Film Market. Most recently, participating in the TorinoFilmLab Green Narratives Workshop (2025) marked a crucial final phase of rewriting.

Without formal film school training, his short films have served as his essential laboratory to refine and evolve his cinematic voice. Across both non-fiction and narrative forms, he prioritizes intimate, low-impact filmmaking methodologies, working closely with non-actors and real communities to build atmosphere-driven, socially resonant cinema.
- IMDb mini biography by: Rishi Chandna