Sundar Prize Film Festival announces first-ever Filmmaker Mentorship Program cohort
Emerging filmmakers Kuntal Patel, Amit Dhuga, and Amarnath Sankar will receive mentorship from Vinay Giridhar, Sean Farnel, and King Louie Palomo
SPONSORED POST BY Sundar Prize Film Festival
Mentee Kuntal Patel.
Mentor Vinay Giridhar.
The Sundar Prize Film Festival is introducing the first intake of mentees and mentors for the Filmmaker Mentorship Program, designed to elevate diverse voices in B.C.’s creative industry.
The Filmmaker Mentorship Program is funded by Creative BC and provides mentees with one-on-one mentorship, networking, and access to the Sundar Prize Film Festival from April 10 to 13. With ongoing intakes, the program invites emerging filmmakers to apply year-round and strengthen their craft through meaningful guidance and support.
Among this year’s artists is mentee Kuntal Patel, an Indian-born, Surrey-based emerging filmmaker and community advocate who is the founder of Samskara – Food for Thoughts. She is directing Resilient Roots, a documentary on immigrant youth navigating identity and belonging. Patel’s mentor, Indian-born artist and filmmaker Vinay Giridhar, is a Vancouver Film School alumnus who made his directorial debut with Emergence: Out of the Shadows. The documentary about 2SLGBTQIA+ Sikh individuals and their families has garnered critical acclaim and played at over 50 film festivals including Academy Award, BAFTA, and Canadian Screen Award qualifying festivals.
Mentor Sean Farnel.
Mentee Amit Dhuga.
Mentee Amit Dhuga is an award-winning North Vancouver-based director and the founder of Boundless Lion Productions. He is working on his first feature film, You’re Mine, in which a group of South Asian girlfriends are stalked by a sadistic incel on Valentine’s Day. Dhuga’s mentor Sean Farnel served as inaugural director of programming for Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary festival. Farnel also founded the documentary program at the Toronto International Film Festival and created the popular screening series Doc Soup. His documentary production credits include To Kill a Tiger, Eternal Spring, and Emergence: Out of the Shadows.
Mentee Amarnath Sankar.
Mentor King Louie Palomo.
Mentee Amarnath Sankar is a queer filmmaker and engineer originally from Kerala, India. His current project, Flicker of Home, follows an Indian immigrant navigating love, displacement, and cultural identity in Canada. His mentor is queer Filipino Canadian producer-director King Louie Palomo. An alum of the 2024 CFC Norman Jewison Film Program: Director’s Lab, his work spans acclaimed short films like “NENE” and “STAY”. His production credits include “Crossroads”, “Lost Beneath the Stars”, and “Auganic”.
A second Filmmaker Mentorship Program cohort will be selected midway through 2025. Apply and learn more here.
Post sponsored by Sundar Prize Film Festival.
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