Ali Kazimi is a filmmaker, writer, and visual artist whose work deals with race, social justice, migration, history, memory and archive. In 2019, he received the Governor General’s Award for Visual and Media Arts, as well as a Doctor of Letters, honoris causa from the University of British Columbia. In 2023, he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. His critically acclaimed films have been shown at festivals around the world, winning national and international honours and awards. His awards include the Donald Brittain/Gemini Award for Best Social/Political Documentary; Golden Gate Award, San Fran. Intl. Film Fest; Golden Conch, Mumbai International Film Festival; Best Director & Best Political Documentary, Hot Docs and Audience Awards for Best Documentary at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival and Los Angeles Indian Film Festival. His most recent feature documentary, Beyond Extinction: Sinixt Resurgence, premiered at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival in May 2023. The film won the People’s Choice Award at the Planet In Focus Canadian International Environmental Film Festival, and was screened as part of the prestigious Front Light program at the International Documentary Film Festival of Amsterdam.

Arnab Banerjee began his professional journey in academia as a lecturer in English Literature, laying a strong intellectual foundation that continues to inform his work in the media. Over the course of more than two decades, he has evolved into a distinguished journalist and discerning film connoisseur, with a career that traverses the full spectrum of contemporary media practice. His editorial footprint spans cinema, music, the arts, and cultural discourse at large. He has worked extensively with some of India’s most eminent national dailies, including The Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Indian Express, and Mail Today. In parallel, he has brought his creative acuity to the world of advertising, crafting compelling narratives as a copywriter for leading agencies. Known for his perceptive and finely nuanced film criticism, Banerjee was a regular contributor to The Asian Age and Hindustan Times, where his reviews and cultural commentary garnered wide readership. His experience in broadcast media includes tenures with JAIN Satellite, followed by roles at television news agencies such as NNIS and Network 1, further broadening his multimedia expertise.

Binita Mehta is Professor of French Emerita at Manhattanville College where she taught courses in French language, literature, and film. She is passionate about cinema, especially French-language cinema. She has also written articles and given talks on films by South Asian diasporic filmmakers. From 2012-2016, she was a co-panelist at post-screening Q&As of French language short films at the Avon Theater in Stamford. CT. Since 2021, she has been a moderator and guest panelist at post-screening discussions of the film festival Francophone Short Films in Harlem. She will moderate the post-screening discussion at the 2024 Francophone Short Films in Harlem at the Maysles Documentary Center on April 19, the Lycée Français de New York on May 1, and will be a guest panelist at the festival’s post-screening Q&A at the Maison Française-Columbia University on Tuesday, April 23.

Ghazala Amin is a former Associate Professor in History at Jesus and Mary College, Delhi University. Her wide-ranging interests and experience include theatre, television, Films, broadcasting, film production, anchoring and development work. She has acted in the feature films “ Ek tho chance “ directed by Saaed Mirza and “ Amir “ directed by Raj Kumar, besides a number of television films. A prime time news anchor on Doordarshan  Television channel, Ghazala was the presenter for the Asian programme on BBC Television and did over 1600 radio programmes for the BBC during her three-year stint in England between 1984-87. She has been a consultant to most of the important news channels in India, anchored a daily Television programme for women and produced documentaries. Fluent in Hindi, Urdu and English, Ghazala has been one of the highly regarded host/moderator of live programmes. One among nine people selected from across the globe as ‘future leaders’, she was a fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Washington DC in 2007.

Mathieu Boisvert is a professor at the Department of Religious Studies of the Université du Québec à Montréal.  Since 2012, his research interests are oriented towards the hijra (“transgender”) communities in South Asia.  He has published at the Presses de l’Université de Montréal  Les Hijras : portrait socioreligieux d’une communauté transgenre sud-asitatique  (2018).  He is now responsible for a research project on « Identités, sexualités et spiritualités multiples : La communauté et les imaginaires sakhi en Inde »; project led in collaboration with Florence Pasche Guignard (ULaval) and Diana Dimitrova (UMontréal), and financed the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada until 2026. Boisvert is also the author of  Comprendre l’Inde  (Montréal : Ulysse, 2013) and one of the co-directors of  L’Inde et ses Avatars : pluralités d’une puissance émergente  (Montréal : PUM, 2014).

Rahila Bootwala is a Montreal-based film producer, director. She got into the world of cinema in 1994, as a production accountant in France on a Merchant Ivory Productions feature film “Jefferson in Paris”. This entry into the business of film making launched her on a 12 year long journey within the company that had its works based on great novels of world literature. She worked on international co-productions in different capacities as an associate, executive and finally into a film producer. She developed skills to make film within budgets and that became her forte. Rahila moved to Montréal in 2007 to start her own independent company. She founded CineVedas, developing several projects and collaborating on several international co-productions in Canada and in France, like Switch, “Le Bonheur de Pierre” and “Le Retour du fils”. Her most recent project is the well acclaimed documentary Women Beyond Bollywood, which she has both produced and directed. The documentary has been shown at various film festivals: Tasveer in Seattle, Chicago Asian International Film festival, Melbourne Asian Film Festival, Festival du Film au Feminin etc.

Ridhima Mehra is Co-Founder and Director of Rough Edges, which enables, mentors and produces feminist and queer documentary films, foregrounding the distinct voices of women, trans and queer artists. She draws on almost two decades of experiences at the Public Service Broadcasting Trust, India’s largest documentary body, co-leading the commissioning, creative realisation, curation and outreach of close to 700 films, diverse in artistic form, subject and authorship. She co-directed the annual Open Frame Film Festival, curating films, conversations, installations and trainings for fourteen editions. She draws on almost two decades of experiences at the Public Service Broadcasting Trust, India’s largest documentary body, co-leading the commissioning, creative realisation, curation and outreach of close to 700 films, diverse in artistic form, subject and authorship. These films have had – 2000 festival selections, 350 awards, thirty national film awards, screenings and honours at Berlinale, Rotterdam, Oberhausen, Yamagata and Busan, among others, and continue to be used extensively across local and domestic contexts. She co-directed the annual Open Frame Film Festival, curating films, conversations, installations and trainings for fourteen editions.

Sameea Jamil is a Professor of Media Studies with a focus on International Communications and media content creation, particularly in film. Her work examines the impact of media on cross-border cultures. She contributed to the “Strengthening Journalism Education in South Asia” program, funded by the US government and US universities, using her expertise to develop a new graduate program at Kinnaird College For Women University, Lahore, which included hands-on training. Sameea has also been instrumental in initiating media programs at several colleges and universities. Her research continues to explore the role of media in society and its influence on power politics.