Nandini Sikand

Born and raised in New Delhi, Nandini Sikand is an independent filmmaker and freelance televison producer based in New York City. All her films have won awards and have screened at numerous domestic and international film festivals. Nandini has been awarded grants for her films from The Jerome Foundation (1997-98) and New York State Council on the Arts (2001-02). She also produced the documentary, Mahasweta Devi: Witness, Advocate, Writer (2001). She is on the board of directors of Film/Video Arts 2003 Artist Mentor Workshop. In television, she has worked on projects for Channel Four: UK, Rainbow Programming, Ovation: the Arts Network, HBO, Oxygen Media and The History Channel. Nandini is an Indian Classical dancer and co-founder and co-director of the Trinayan Collective. She is pursuing a PhD at in Cultural Anthropology at The Graduate Center, CUNY and has taught courses on production and film theory at Hunter College, CUNY and Swarthmore College, PA.

Her own website: www.nandinisikand.com. She can be contacted at nsikand@yahoo.co

Filmography

In Whose Name?
(2004, 11 mins)
A filmic essay inspired by a changing political landscape. It explores the co-opting of icons by right-wing and national agendas. Filmed in India and the US, this experimental short is told through personal narrative, Super 8mm home movies, Bollywood film and comic book art. Distributed by Third World Newsreel.
Amazonia
(2001, 8 mins)
In a highly personal and visually evocative testimonial, the filmmaker poignantly presents her sister's triumphal recovery from the emotional and physical scars of breast cancer. Lyrically incorporating poetry, experimental video and Super-8 montage, this moving piece looks at the myth of Amazonian women -- warriors who were said to have cut off their right breast to become better archers -- and compares their legendary battles to the war being waged against breast cancer. As Sikand's sister reads passages describing her fight with the disease, the geography of her body is explored and compared to the scared landscape of the urban environment. Traversing the pulsating and dizzying streets, the city and body become one to highlight women's lives as triumphant urban warriors. Moving and inspiring, this short experimental video is a tribute to all women who have struggled with breast cancer. Available from Women Make Movies.
Don't Fence Me In
(1998, 55 mins)
is the coming-of-age story of a young woman in post-colonial India, which weaves together old home movies, poetry, photographs, letters, and a voice-over narration. 55 min, 1998. "It is the experiences of our parents that mirror the worlds that we know only from stories, impressions and memories.... to begin at the personal and move towards the universal: therein lies understanding", says Nandini Sikand in India Today, 18 Jan 99. Available from Women Make Movies.
The Bhangra Wrap
(1995, )
explores the world of hip hop, rap and Bhangra of young South Asians in Canada and New York. Available from NAATA .