Nikhilesh Mishra
Directing
Biography
Nikhilesh Mishra has written and directed five short films. He is also the author of three poetry collections and one non-fiction title, alongside three titles as a translator. His films have screened at several film festivals across India and abroad, including IFFI Goa, Mumbai International Film Festival, Chennai International Documentary & Short Film Festival and UK Asian Film Festival. His directorial short 'Autumn Flowers', made in an underrepresented dialect of West Bengal called 'Khotta', won the 'Best Film' award at three film festivals, including those at IIT-Delhi and IIM-Rohtak. He has received a NETPAC Special Mention for his curatorial project 'All is Not Lost' at ArCuREA 2024. His books have been shortlisted for the 'Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar' nine times in the past six years. A recipient of the 'KATHA Nabapratibha Prize' (2016), 'Tapasya Sambhabana Prize' (2018), 'Dr Anamika Poetry Prize' (2022) , Nikhilesh has been selected by NFDC as one of the '75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow' at IFFI Goa, 2023. He has represented India at the International Youth Poetry Festival 2024, a summit of poets from the BRICS countries held in China. An alumnus of the Centre for English Studies at JNU, New Delhi, Nikhilesh is currently in his final year of a Post Graduate Program in Direction & Screenplay Writing at Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute, Kolkata. Prior to pursuing filmmaking, he has worked extensively with local communities and the youth - starting with a phone-in programme for farmers at a local Community Radio Centre, and eventually hosting the flagship programme 'Yuvavani' at All India Radio, Cuttack.
Known For
A toxic relationship that's on the verge of breakdown mirrors the worsening relations between human beings and nature. But is there a way out?
Birwa
On a summer afternoon in rural Odisha, a seven year old boy realizes that human beings are mortal and has a conversation with his ageing grandfather about this.
One Day in the Afternoon
When an aging, reclusive Daskathia performer breaks decades of silence to honour a dying patron's wish, he confronts the question that has haunted his entire life— if the last audience walks away, is it still a performance?