MICA collaborates with Aranya Sahay; announces creative fellowship for marginalised filmmakers

MICA Ahmedabad has announced a new creative fellowship in partnership with filmmaker Aranya Sahay to support filmmakers from marginalised communities and help them bring their stories to the screen.

Speaking about the fellowship, Jaya Deoras Deshmukh, MICA Director and CEO, said, “At MICA, we believe creativity must be accompanied by the opportunity to create. This Fellowship is a step towards making that possible. We want to nurture voices that challenge the familiar, bring fresh perspectives to the screen and expand our understanding of India and its people. Because the future of storytelling cannot be imagined by a few, it must be created by many.”

The MICA x Aranya Sahay Creative Fellowship will select up to five filmmakers through an open application process. Filmmakers can apply with projects that are at the development, production, or post-production stage.

Each selected filmmaker will receive an upfront grant to support their project. They will also take part in a week-long fellowship at MICA’s Ahmedabad campus and get access to the institute’s post-production facilities to continue working on their films.

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Filmmakers to interact with cinema professionals

During the week-long programme, fellows will interact with professionals from Indian and international cinema, along with MICA faculty members and students. The confirmed participants include filmmaker and producer Kabir Khan, filmmaker and producer Nikkhil Advani, and distributor and producer Prasad Shetty.

Reflecting on his filmmaking journey, Aranya Sahay said, "Throughout my career, I’ve seen how the stories that make it to the big screen often emerge from a narrow range of social backgrounds, leaving a large section of India’s population underrepresented, both in the stories being told and in the people who get to tell them. This fellowship is our attempt to change that by addressing some of the key barriers young filmmakers, particularly those from marginalized communities, face in accessing funding, resources and distribution. It is an honour to be able to build this initiative with MICA.”

Through the fellowship, MICA and Sahay will provide filmmakers from underrepresented backgrounds with the resources and professional connections needed to develop their projects and share their work with wider audiences.