Chithra Jeyaram
Introduction (2-3 lines)
Chithra makes films about identity, relationships, race, art, and health. A failed attempt to fund a film in India led her to quit a decade-long career as a Physical Therapist and get an MFA in film. In the near future, she hopes to direct narrative features and fantastical episodic content. She is an avid runner and has completed 14 marathons. Food is her first love.
Chithra makes films about identity, relationships, race, art, and health. A failed attempt to fund a film in India led her to quit a decade-long career as a Physical Therapist and get an MFA in film. Her work is supported by Chicken and Egg Pictures, Brown Girls Doc Mafia, Jerome Foundation, Center for Asian American Media, New York State Council for the Arts, BAVC Media Maker Fellowship, Made in New York Fellowship, American Institute for Indian Studies, Lancet, Dance Films Association, and pitched at competitive industry events like the Gotham, Sheffield Meet Market, DOC NYC, and BFI Production Finance Market. In the near future, she hopes to direct narrative features and fantastical episodic content. She is an avid runner and has completed 14 marathons. Food is her first love.
Currently, she is making Our Daughters, a feature documentary that examines open adoption in America through an immigrant lens. She edited the episode Symbolic Justice for CBSN Original series Speaking Frankly and the Sundance supported mini-series, America in Transition, about trans people of color. She is an adjunct at NYU Tisch and has taught documentary production and post-production for five years at the Documentary Center at GWU in Washington D.C. and Arlington Independent Media.
In the near future, she hopes to direct narrative features and fantastical episodic content. She is an avid runner and has completed 14 marathons. Food is her first love.
ACTIVE PROJECTS
Our Daughters: For the sake of their twin daughters, an Indian adoptive mother and a white birth mother venture into uncharted territory with an open adoption, crossing racial and cultural lines. Stage: Late production/Early Post-Production. Supported by: Chicken and Egg Pictures, NYC Women's Fund, Center for Asian American Media, New York State Council for the Arts, Brown Girls Doc Mafia, and Jerome Foundation. Selected: Sheffield Meet Market, Gotham Documentary Lab, Gotham Project Forum, DOC NYC Only in New York, and BFI Production Finance Market. Seeking: Co-production and Finishing Funds
1001 Breast Cancer Nights: an online portal of breast cancer stories from India: vibrant tales of medicine, myth, stigma, survival, romance, tragedy, comedy, and artistry. It will improve the understanding of the disease, and the quality of life for survivors. Stage: Post-Production/Prototyping Supported by BAVC Media Maker Fellowship, Made in New York Fellowship, the Lancet Development Award, and the Creative Arts Fellowship from American Institute for Indian Studies. Seeking: Finishing Funds and User Interface Designer
