Director’s BIO: Nikhat Powell (THE BENEFACTION)

Short Film playing at the November 2017 FEMALE FEEDBACK Film Festival

Director Biography

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Nikhat Powell is an educator. She got her M.A. in Mass Communications from the premier institute for Filmmaking, the Mass Communications Research Centre (MCRC), New Delhi, India in 1990. Before transitioning full time into education, she worked as a Video editor for Zee TV and for different independent TV shows.

Identifying a need for a unique film school offering high quality instruction to everyone who had missed the opportunity during college days, she started ‘Magic in Motion’. MIM taught intensive, short term, part time courses that a working professional could manage.

She headed departments and worked with media and liberal arts colleges in Bangalore and Pune, India for nearly two decades before moving to the US with her American husband. Unable to work in higher education in the US without an MFA, she decided go back to full-time studying and get what she needed to teach the subject she loves. She graduated as one of the top graduates across the program, with a 4.0 GPA and an Honors degree.

She is currently teaching in the Cinematic Arts department in Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville, Florida.

Director Statement

This film is a labor of love. It is a testament to how the Universe supports one when faith, passion, perseverance and dedication lead the way.

The characters, their conflict, the stakes, the social and monetary conditions might could be argued as specific to a culture prevalent in India. I believe they’re specific to mankind. I’ve tried to pay attention to cultural nuances, character flaws, culture-specific dialogs, development of character, character arc and plot, and the story arc, remembering that the story is set in India, but will largely be viewed by a foreign audience. Though the story is about Rishi, the male protagonist, it is also a comment on the unacknowledged role of women that are the strength and support of families across the world. Naina, in this film, could well be recognized by many other names across the world. Rishi, in this film, is each of us when faced with difficult decisions in our lives. May we learn to never judge someone else, for we are not in their shoes.

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By femalefilmfestival

The irony of this festival is that its goal is to not be around in 5 years time. To eventually not be relevant because there is zero need to have a festival geared for female talent and female stories because the stories presented in Hollywood and around the world are a balanced showcase of the human experience from both sexes. Our goal is to achieve a lot of success and then fold into oblivion simply because there is no need for this festival. This festival was created by the FEEDBACK Film & Writing Festival as a simple reaction to a strong need to showcase female talent from around the world in a more profound way. When putting together the weekly festival, the administration noticed a lack of a female presence in the stories being shown at the festival. A classic example and analogy to the frustration is how the festival noticed that even the smaller roles in a screenplay were written for a man to play. There was zero reason for this in many stories. How a police officer, or a political campaign manager, for example with 3-4 lines in a screenplay was a "HE" character. Why? And these are the screenplays written by the winners! The talented one who have obtained agents and have began/beginning their careers as a writer.

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