Project Launch at Tongues on Fire Delegate Reception
UK-India Creative Industries and Cultural Heritage programme
'The Emerging Curators Lab 2025 held on 8-9 March, marked the first edition of a special India-UK collaboration as part of the AHRC-funded research project 'Connecting Creative Industries and Cultural Heritage: India-UK Film Festival Federation, Youth Curation and Community Co-Creation'. The weekend workshop featured masterclasses on film curation, a guest presentation from Habitat International Film Festival, and intensive practical sessions on the evaluation and selection process. This ECL 2025 edition involved 32 emerging curators from India and the UK, presenting a vibrant and dynamic platform for discussions around South Asian film curation. The Emerging Curators devised selection parameters and voted to decide their 'Emerging Curators' Choice' film, which will be conferred a bespoke award at the 27th UK Asian Film Festival 2025 (1-11 May 2025). Big thanks to everyone who joined our #ECLWorkshop—your energy and curiosity fueled an unforgettable day, and a huge shoutout to our incredible presenters for lighting the way!
In collaboration with the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, we organised the first edition of 'AHRC India-UK Skills Workshop.' The workshop entailed training sessions on archival research and oral history by renowned author and journalist, Mr. Ziya Us Salam and a filming session led by Mr. Sumit Sharma, Assistant Professor of Practice at Jindal School of Journalism and Communication. The event featured film screening of 'Movies, Memories, Magic' (2018) and discussion with filmmaker, Dr. Ashvin Devasundaram. Participants were selected from the Emerging Curators Lab 2025 and included aspiring filmmakers, curators and doctoral researchers.
In collaboration with the School of Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, we organised the second edition of 'AHRC India-UK Skills Development and Capacity Building Workshop.' The workshop entailed training sessions on archival research and oral history by doctoral researcher, Poorvi Gaur (QMUL); film festival curation by renowned filmmaker and Founder-Director of Kashish Pride Film Festival, Mr. Sridhar Rangayan; and, heritage initiatives and cinema culture in Mumbai by architect, urban designer and filmmaker, Rohan Shivkumar. The event featured film screening of 'Movies, Memories, Magic' (2018) and discussion with filmmaker, Dr. Ashvin Devasundaram. Participants included aspiring filmmakers, curators, graduate students and doctoral researchers.
In collaboration with the School of Arts and Humanities, Christ (Deemed to be) University, Bangalore, we organised the third edition of the 'AHRC India-UK Skills Development and Capacity Building Workshop' on 10 December 2025. The workshop entailed training sessions on archival research and oral history by feminist historian Professor Janaki Nair; heritage initiatives and cinema culture in the Garden City of Bangalore by author and national award-winning filmmaker, Leslie Carvalho; and film festival curation by Dr Pradeep Kenchanuru of the Bangalore International Film Festival (BIFFES). The event concluded with an open house discussion between the panellists, project team and workshop participants including aspiring filmmakers, curators, graduate students, doctoral researchers, academics and industry professionals.
In collaboration with the Department of Film Studies, St. Xavier’s (Autonomous) College Kolkata, we organised the fourth and final edition of the 'AHRC India-UK Skills Development and Capacity Building Workshop' on 28 January 2026. The workshop entailed training sessions on archival research by Dr Hardik Brata Biswas; independent filmmaking and community archiving by documentary practitioner and video installation artist, Debalina Majumder, and festival curation by the Vice President of the Federation of Film Societies of India (estd.1959) and founder of the World Film Festival Kolkata, Premendra Mazumder. The event featured film screening of Friends of Jilipibala (2025) and discussion with filmmaker, Debalina Majumder. The workshop concluded with an open house discussion between panellists, project team and participants including filmmakers, curators, graduate students, doctoral researchers and independent artists.