DIRECTOR'S NOTE
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Over the years, I pursued one passion relentlessly: making films that would have the potential to change hearts and minds and ignite social change around the issues that I care about in my community.
That strong "purpose" has constantly motivated me to keep going through all the difficulties, stay true to my core values, and impart them in the stories I tell. This is one of many values my own Dance Teacher - Mrs Indira Manikam taught me years ago. This film is a tribute to that amazing teacher. Some of my most successful films are undeniably stories about resilient women who have achieved incredible things – The Game Changer, Teacher the Tradition Bearer, Dr Hartini's HERWORLD series, and even She's My Son. I am well aware of their age, the complexity of their characters, how they fight their everyday storms, how they care or even no longer care about many aspects of life, and most importantly, how they represent themselves in the world. I truly believe everyone wants to be a part of something bigger than themselves, part of something special that inspires us, and that's precisely what good stories do. I look for stories that inspire me, and in telling that story, I get to share it with others, and these are the stories that I want to leave behind - INDRANI KOPAL (PHOTO BY SIVABALAN TAVAMANY) |
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ABOUT INDRANI KOPAL
Indrani Kopal
Editor | Producer | Director
www.indranikopal.co
Indrani Kopal is an award-winning filmmaker, a Fulbright scholar and the founder and executive director of Far East Documentary Centre in Malaysia. She is a former video journalist at Malaysiakini.com, a prestigious online news organization in Malaysia and one of the first to initiate web video to cover daily news and news features of current issues in Malaysia.
Her documentary 'The Game Changer' was screened at 17 international festivals and won multiple awards, including the best documentary award at the 2014 Harlem International Film Festival and at the American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase 2015 in Cannes, France. In 2018 she was awarded the Mira Nair Award for Rising Female Filmmaker at the Harlem International Film Festival for her feature length documentary 'Incarcerated Rhythm'.
She founded Far East Documentary Centre in 2016 and formed a biography film project to support the fact that the sharing of our personal stories remind us that we are not alone. She believes it is through the process of documentary that our mundane stories become profound. Indrani Kopal often employs various filmmaking methodologies such as participatory video and video diaries that allow members of the community to engage within their own story and find their own narrative. Indrani Kopal is also a senior Lecturer at Taylor’s University. Her primary research interests focus on biographical films as cultural memory and national identity.
- (PHOTO BY LAKSHMANA RAJA)
Indrani is a recipient of:
• 2019 Asia Tatler's Generation T, Malaysian honouree
• 2018 Mira Nair Award for Rising Female Filmmaker for "Incarcerated Rhythm"
• 2016 AGNI Youth Icon Award.
• 2015 Kalai Payanam Award, Certificate for International Achievement.
• 2015 Great Women Of Our Time Award for "Arts & Media" by The Malaysian Women's Weekly Magazine.
• 2015 Best Student Documentary Award at The American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at Cannes, France.
• 2014 Bustle's Annual Upstart Award.
• 2014 Best Short Documentary at 9th Annual Harlem International Film Festival, New York.
• 2012-2014 Fulbright Malaysian Graduate Study And Research Scholarship Award.
• 2010 George Washington University 2010 International Emerging Documentary Filmmakers Fellowship.
• 2008 Most Outstanding Asian Youth Ambassador (AYA) Award, Runner up.
• 2007 Justin Louis Award in Freedom Film Festival, Film 'She's My Son'
• 2019 Asia Tatler's Generation T, Malaysian honouree
• 2018 Mira Nair Award for Rising Female Filmmaker for "Incarcerated Rhythm"
• 2016 AGNI Youth Icon Award.
• 2015 Kalai Payanam Award, Certificate for International Achievement.
• 2015 Great Women Of Our Time Award for "Arts & Media" by The Malaysian Women's Weekly Magazine.
• 2015 Best Student Documentary Award at The American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at Cannes, France.
• 2014 Bustle's Annual Upstart Award.
• 2014 Best Short Documentary at 9th Annual Harlem International Film Festival, New York.
• 2012-2014 Fulbright Malaysian Graduate Study And Research Scholarship Award.
• 2010 George Washington University 2010 International Emerging Documentary Filmmakers Fellowship.
• 2008 Most Outstanding Asian Youth Ambassador (AYA) Award, Runner up.
• 2007 Justin Louis Award in Freedom Film Festival, Film 'She's My Son'
