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Bio

Pavitra Chalam is an award-winning documentary filmmaker based in Bangalore. Her films on issues of social importance have received critical acclaim across the world. She is the founder of CurleyStreet Media. She has directed over 200 films and has been a part of the industry for over 15 years. Pavitra’s journey into the world of film started in 2003, where as a part of the Youth Initiative for Peace in Pakistan, she made her film debut with ‘Bus’ – a cinematic exposition on the shared ideals of the youth of both nations. Pavitra traveled across Europe in 2004 as an Ambassador for a U.N project on social change. Pavitra received her degree from the New York Film Academy in 2006 and is now a known alumnus of the academy. Her thesis at the New York Film Academy ‘Anamika – Her Glorious Past’ was selected for the Sixth IAAC Film Festival, 2006 in New York and the Indian Film Festival, Los Angeles in 2007. 

Pavitra received the Ability Media International (AMI) Award in London in 2010 for Khushboo, a film about children with complex needs. In 2012, Pavitra directed ‘Indelible’, the story of seven people with Down syndrome living in India. She was awarded the Asia-Pacific Award for ‘Outstanding Documentary Talent’ at the DocWeek film festival in Adelaide for Indelible in 2014. She was also honored by the Government of India as one of 25 women achievers/ambassadors for social change. In January 2019, Women In Film [Los Angeles] announced the recipients of their 33rd annual Film Finishing Fund. Pavitra Chalam received the grant for Rooting for Roona, a film she co-directed with Akshay Shankar. In September, 2019, Pavitra and Akshay founded The Mums Word, which is a first of its kind Instagram platform for and by mothers in India.