"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Title : Tell us Her Story : The New Indian Filmmakers: @ Laadli Turns 11 What do Gangs of Wasseypur, The Lunchbox, Vicky Donor and Piku have in common? Young, ambitious Filmmakers who are raising the bar of Indian cinema to International levels with their grit, talent and unstoppable enthusiasm. A lot of them also just happen to be women! :) To commemorate the 11th anniversary of Laadli, the Girl Child campaign by Population First, Avid Learning is proud to partner with Laadli to host BAFTA nominee, CEO at Anurag Kashyap Films and Film Producer of Gangs of Wasseypur and The Lunchbox, Guneet Monga, Screenwriter of Vicky Donor and Piku, Juhi Chaturvedi, Screenwriter of Rock On and Kai Po Che, Pubali Chaudhuri, Film Editor of feature films like NH10 and documentary films, Jabeen Merchant, and Award-winning Ad Film Director and Debutante Film Director of Nil Battey Sannaata, Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari in conversation with Veteran Indian Theatre Actress and Casting Director, Dolly Thakore as they enthrall us with their visions of bringing great Indian cinema to the world! Where: Essar House, 11 KK Marg, Mahalaxmi, Mumbai 400034 When: Thursday, 9th June 2016 Time: 6 PM to 8 PM RSVP Email / Call: [email protected] / +919769937710 ; prior registration required Press Email / Call: Dhwani Vyas on [email protected] / +91 9930134152 About Avid Learning: Avid Learning, a public programming platform and cultural arm of the Essar Group, has conducted over 600 programs and connected with more than 55,000 individuals since its inception in 2009. Driven by the belief that Learning Never Stops, AVID’s multiple formats like Workshops, Panel Discussions, Gallery Walkthroughs, and Festival Platforms create a dynamic and interactive atmosphere that stimulates intellectual and creative growth across the fields of Culture & Heritage, Literature, Art and Innovation. Facebook : www.facebook.com/Avidlearning Facebook event link : https://www.facebook.com/events/1543180862653408/ Twitter : www.twitter.com/Avidlearning Instagram: @avidlearning ABOUT POPULATION FIRST ( www.populationfirst.org) Population First (PF) is a communications and advocacy initiative that works on health and population issues from a gender and social development perspective founded by Mr. S. V. Sista. It was registered in March 2002 under the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950. Our key objectives are to help reduce gender imbalances in the population and work towards gender sensitive and social development oriented health and population programs. Laadli - Population First’s Girl Child campaign was launched in 2005 to address the problem of falling sex ratio which was brought out in the Census of 2001. Over the years the campaign has evolved and now focuses on promoting positive image of girls and women in media by sensitizing and influencing the influencers i.e. media and advertizing professionals, opinion makers , youth and educators. Laadli media awards, fellowships, media and gender workshops for media students, working journalists and script writers, media consultations, guidelines, Ad analysis, gender reviews of films, change makers clubs and film festivals are some of the initiatives under the campaign to initiate discussion and dialogue on prevalent gender perceptions and stereotypes. - Population First’s Girl Child campaign was launched in 2005 to address the problem of falling sex ratio which was brought out in the Census of 2001. Over the years the campaign has evolved and now focuses on promoting positive image of girls and women in media by sensitizing and influencing the influencers i.e. media and advertizing professionals, opinion makers , youth and educators. Laadli media awards, fellowships, media and gender workshops for media students, working journalists and script writers, media consultations, guidelines, Ad analysis, gender reviews of films, change makers clubs and film festivals are some of the initiatives under the campaign to initiate discussion and dialogue on prevalent gender perceptions and stereotypes. Panelists Bio’s : Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari A gold medalist from Sophia Polytechnic, Mumbai, Ashwiny spent 16 years in the advertising agency Leo Burnett telling stories for the biggest brands in India and South East Asia. She had several awards from Cannes Lions, New york festival, One show, Clio, D&AD and one national award for her short Film. Apart from being a writer and director she is contributing writer to an Interior Magazine in its DIY and colour features. Editorial Photography is her other interest and this has taken shape as a face book page called ‘No Makeup story. She is also involved in the revival of art and craft in India and strongly believes in women empowerment. Her current film ‘Nil Battey Sannata’ has just finished with rave reviews and now she will be found somewhere near mother earth smelling the flowers, meditating and living the moment. Guneet Monga Voted as one of the top 12 women achievers in the Global Entertainment industry by The Hollywood Reporter and among the top 50 Indians changing India by India Today, Guneet is a game-changer in Indian cinema. She has had 9 films in Cannes and 14 films in Toronto and has collaborated with some of the most reputed sales agents like The Match Factory, Elle Driver, Fortissimo, and West End. After partnering with visionary director Anurag Kashyap,Guneet produced a stunning 23 films in 4 years, including commercial successes like Gangs of Wasseypur I & II, and international prestige projects like Michael Winterbottom’s Trishna. In 2013, she produced the ‘The Lunchbox’ which became a global sensation, garnering 23m USD in global box office and earning the film a BAFTA nomination for Best Foreign Film. Monga’s most recent film Masaan, won the FIPRESCI prize at Cannes and she is co- producing the Hindi remake of the French blockbuster Intouchables with Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions. A groundbreaking producer on every level, Monga is the youngest person to be conferred with the 'Most Powerful Women in Indian Business Juhi Chaturvedi Juhi is an Indian Screenwriter and advertising professional. Juhi is the story, screenplay and dialogue writer of the Bollywood movies Vicky Donor and recently released PIKU. In addition, she has written dialogues for Khubsoorat and critically acclaimed film Madras Café. She graduated from Lucknow College of Arts. Chaturvedi started her career as a freelance illustrator with The Times of India Lucknow edition. She shifted to Delhi, in 1996 when she joined advertising with Ogilvy & Mather as an art director. In 1999, she moved to Mumbai office of the agency and went on to being Sr. Creative Creative Director. In 2008, she joined McCann followed by Bates in Mumbai, where she was Executive creative director. She worked with director Shoojit Sircar on ad films for brands like Titan watches and Saffola. During her stay in Delhi, she lived as a young single professional in Lajpat Nagar, an experience she used in scripting her first film, Vicky Donor. She was awarded the IRDS Film award for social concern for her story Vicky Donor, FILMFARE, IIFA, JAAGRAN, NATIONAL AWARD...to name a few. She has recently won this year's two National Film awards for the story and the dialogues for PIKU, other than winning TOIFA (screenplay), FILMFARE (screenplay), ZEE (story, screenplay dialogues), SCREEN (dialogues) and the prestigious Jaagran award for her writing in Piku. Pubali Chaudhuri The writer of Award winning films like Rock On and Kai Po Che. Pubali has lately been working in close tandem with producers Farhan Akhtar and Riteish Sidhwani for Rock On 2. She has been nominated for IIFA Award for Best Story, Guild Award for Best Story, Guild Award for Best Screenplay. She has also been the recipient for the Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay. Jabeen Merchant Jabeen is a trained as a film editor at the FTII, Pune. She has wide experience in both the Bombay film industry and the community of independent documentary filmmakers. Known especially for her work editing and co-scripting a number of award winning feature length documentaries, she also has several fiction features and TV shows to her credit. Jabeen has also been a journalist; she teaches editing and sometimes writes about cinema.Many of the films that Jabeen has edited have feminist themes, including Un-Limited Girls, a film that mixes documentary and fiction to present a history of the Indian Women’s Movement; Invoking Justice, a film that follows the dramatic exploits of a Muslim women’s Jamaat in Tamil Nadu; and Till We Meet Again, that explores the idea of masculinity in the lives of four young men from a basti in New Delhi. Her most recently released fiction feature film was the dark thriller NH10, which co-incidentally also centers around a strong woman lead character; and her next will be Anarkali Arrahwali whose woman protagonist is a raunchy singer/performer, unafraid to challenge the most powerful men in her town. Dolly Thakore is a veteran Indian theatre actress and casting director. The Vagina Monologues has been playing in India since March 2003 and Dolly Thakore has been a part of the cast since its inception. She also has been in the business of Communications and Public Relations for over twenty years, and was until recently the Public Relations Director of the B4U Television channel. She edited the Mumbai International Film Festival brochure MIFF 2000, and is Associate Publisher for Dakini Books, London, publisher of Bollywood -- Popular Indian Cinema. She has worked in Radio and Television with BBC London. She is one of the leading Newscasters and Television hosts interviewing prominent citizens from India and abroad. A columnist and film and theatre reviewer, she has written for leading newspapers and magazines in India like The Sunday Times, Bombay Times, Indian Express, India Today, Business India, and Business World Management Institute in Mumbai. Best, .