Asmita Shrish is an independent filmmaker based between London and Kathmandu. Her filmmaking practice oscillates from documentaries to moving images and dramas, anchoring real issues and narratives to navigate and represent identity within physical and metaphysical space. Her films have always been the results of collaborations with the subjects/casts with particular attraction towards characters that are intimately close to their environment. She is particularly interested in exploring delicate and private spaces within an intricate framework. She has been mentored by auteurs Naomi Kawase, Bela Tarr , Shirin Neshat and Nilotpal Majumdar who is an on-going mentor. Her films Auntie Ganga, Gyalmu’s House and Chandra have won multiple awards and have been screened in more than 100 film festivals around the world including Locarno, São Paulo, Busan, London, IDFA, Sheffield, Banff, Edinburgh, Fribourg to name a few.
Asmita is an alumni of Berlinale Talents (2020), BFI Network/BAFTA crew (2019/2020), Berwick LUX project bootcamp (2019), Asian Film Academy alumni (2014) and is fellow of IDFA Academy (2011). She is also endorsed by British Council and a recent beneficiary of the Sinchi Fund 2019/2020 as an emerging Indigenous filmmaker to devise a workshop among indigenous filmmakers in Nepal. Asmita is a recent alumni of Global Media Makers of LA Residency Film Independent (2022).
Projects
- GYALMU'S HOUSE - Documentary ShortA short documentary following a woman of great courage, humour and dignity as she rebuilds her life high in the mountains after an earthquake of terrible power devastated Nepal’s Langtang Valley. The film has been featured in Aeon and 99 media . The film was widely distributed among major mountain film festivals around the world in 2016/2017 and was winner of the best documentary in Kathmandu International Mountain film festival in nepal panorama section. More about the film can be found h
- CHANDRA - Drama Short'Chandra’ is a short fiction about a little boy's one day of life in earthquake-hit Kathmandu, Nepal. Supervised by Award winning director, Naomi Kawase, “Chandra” is the result of South Korea’s Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) and China’s Youku collaboration project titled "Asian Masters and Newcomers”. INTERNATIONAL SCREENINGS 2018 - IAWRT Asian Women’s Film Festival 2018- Tricycle Magazine - january edition 2017- Breakthough Film Festival 2017- ClujShorts 2017- 45th Festival of
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Projects credited in
- Altered LandscapesAn immersive multimedia installation which tackles themes of trauma, displacement, personal narratives and landscape. The work is an intimate account of the personal experience of travelling through an unfamiliar landscape reminiscent of the experience of refugees. Through the use of video, photography, light and sound, Altered Landscapes aims to engage the viewer in a journey. It asks the viewer to navigate the different elements in the gallery space so as to be absorbed in the experiences and
Work history
FounderDhaulagiri Films Ltd.
London, United KingdomFreelance
Dhaulagiri Films was founded by Writer/Director Asmita Shrish in 2013 where she collaborates with like-minded artists from around the world.
Skills
- Directing Film
- Film Directing
- Adobe Graphics
- Logo/website Design
- Adobe Photoshop/indesign/illustrator
- Artist Musician
- Factual Scriptwriting
- Screenwriting
Education
Documentary FilmNational Film and Television School
- Beaconsfield, United Kingdom
Directing for DocumentaryLondon Film Academy
- London, United Kingdom
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Awards
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Satyajit Ray AwardsAsia South-East Short Film Festival
Shepherds of Naar won, Satyajit Ray Awards in South Asian Short Film Festivald
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Jury Award for Best Short Filmdhaka international film festival
Short film 'Chandra' get special mention for the Best International short film in Dhaka International Film Festival+ Show more