Junoon means passion/obsession. At Junoon Pictures we have a junoon for stories because they open portals to other cultures, geographies, and psychologies validating our uniqueness and our common humanity. In addition to telling cinematic stories, we also help organizations, entrepreneurs and founders tell their brand stories of impact and innovations.
Alka Raghuram is an award winning Bay Area based filmmaker and a multidisciplinary artist. She has made several fiction, experimental, and documentary films. Her film Panchali recieved the Eastman Kodak award for Excellence in Cinematography, and John Guttman Prize for Innovative storytelling.
Her feature documentary Burqa Boxers, about Muslim women boxers in Kolkata, was awarded the Director Of The Year award at the IDF Forum, Westlake International Documentary Festival, and also the top prize, Grant Open Doors, at the Locarno Film Festival co-production market. Burqa Boxers was distributed via MUBI until the end of 2023.
She was awarded the L’Oreal Woman of Worth Filmmaker Award at Tribeca All Access for her script The Conqueror. She frequently collaborates with other artists to create narrative performances and installations. Her multimedia collaborations with Chitresh Dance Institute have been awarded the Creative Work Fund twice - once in 2014 for the performance “Yatra” about the shared histories between Kathak and Flamenco, and in 2021 for “Invoking The River” about the mythological significance of rivers and their environmental degradation.
She recently collaborated with Chitresh Das Dance as the Narrative Director for a performance about Janki Bai, one of the first recording artists of India. She is in advance development for her debut fiction film In The Ring, and documentary “Naksha Paani (Face of Water).
Founder: Alka Raghuram
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Burqa Boxers (Feature Documentary)
Winner, Best Project, Grant Open Doors, Locarno Film Festival
Winner “Author of the Year” International. Documentary Festival, Hangzhou, China, 2017.
EBS International documentary Festival, Korea
New Orleans Film Festival, October
Vail Film Festival, USA
Jio MAMI International Film Festival Mumbai
Traces De Vie International Film Festival, Claremond Ferrand, France,
Artemis, Women in Action Film Festival, USA
For Films Sake Film Festival, Australia, USA
Invitation, Film Bazaar Co-Production Market, Goa, India
The Conqueror (Script)
Berlinale Talent Project Market.
L’oreal Woman of Worth Vision Award at Tribeca All Access
The Ant and The Monkey (Short Fiction)
Nomination, Princess Grace Awards
Giffoni Film Festival, Italy
Mendocino Film Festival
San Francisco South Asian International Film Festival
San Diego International Children’s Film Festival
Mahindra IAAC International Film Festival
Panchali
14th Madrid International Experimental Cinema Week
Regional finalist in the Student Academy Awards
John Gutmann Award for Innovation in Cinema
Nominated for the Eastman Kodak Scholarship for Excellence in Cinema (2004).
Casa De Espana, Lima, Peru
San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival
Women of Color Film Festival
Tired Of Dancing
Cinequest International Film Festival
Women of Color Film Festival
San Francisco South Asian Film Festival
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The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/may/02/gender-fight-night-boxing-film-makers-go-three-rounds-for-industry-equality
The Hindu: https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/of-grit-and-grace/article7893312.ece
The Indian Express: https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/entertainment-others/the-right-hook-2/
Global Indian: https://www.globalindian.com/story/art-culture/indian-filmmaker-alka-raghuram/
Indian Independent Films: https://indiaindependentfilms.com/2016/10/23/mami-2016-alka-raghurams-burqa-boxers/
Variety: https://variety.com/2022/film/news/mithila-palkar-jaaved-jaaferi-siam-ahmed-in-the-ring-1235271543/
Screendaily: https://www.screendaily.com/-locarnos-open-doors-top-award-shared-by-two-indian-projects/5030715.article
Hollywood Reporter: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/locarno-open-doors-unveils-indian-184490/
F.I.G.H.T.C.L.U.B: https://moifightclub.com/tag/alka-raghuram/
KALW: https://www.kalw.org/podcast/sandip-roys-dispatches-from-kolkata/2024-02-21/kathaks-return-journey
India Currents: https://indiacurrents.com/chitresh-das-dance-takes-invoking-the-river-on-3-city-tour-of-india/Chitresh Das Institute: https://www.chitreshdasinstitute.org/blog/2022/10/16/alka-raghuram-interview-w-artists-of-invoking-the-river
Sinema: https://www.sinema.sg/2011/08/11/locarno-open-doors-alka-raghurams-burqa-boxers/
India Currents: https://indiacurrents.com/bay-area-based-filmmaker-alka-raghuram-documents-muslim-women-boxers-fight-for-liberation/
Pandolin: http://pandolin.com/i-wanted-to-investigate-how-learning-to-box-transforms-one-as-a-person/
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Burqa Boxers (Feature Documentary)
Winner, Best Project, Grant Open Doors, Locarno Film Festival
Winner “Author of the Year” International. Documentary Festival, Hangzhou, China, 2017.
EBS International documentary Festival, Korea
New Orleans Film Festival, October
Vail Film Festival, USA
Jio MAMI International Film Festival Mumbai
Traces De Vie International Film Festival, Claremond Ferrand, France,
Artemis, Women in Action Film Festival, USA
For Films Sake Film Festival, Australia, USA
Invitation, Film Bazaar Co-Production Market, Goa, India
The Conqueror (Script)
Berlinale Talent Project Market.
L’oreal Woman of Worth Vision Award at Tribeca All Access
The Ant and The Monkey (Short Fiction)
Nomination, Princess Grace Awards
Giffoni Film Festival, Italy
Mendocino Film Festival
San Francisco South Asian International Film Festival
San Diego International Children’s Film Festival
Mahindra IAAC International Film Festival
Panchali
14th Madrid International Experimental Cinema Week
Regional finalist in the Student Academy Awards
John Gutmann Award for Innovation in Cinema
Nominated for the Eastman Kodak Scholarship for Excellence in Cinema (2004).
Casa De Espana, Lima, Peru
San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival
Women of Color Film Festival
Tired Of Dancing
Cinequest International Film Festival
Women of Color Film Festival
San Francisco South Asian Film Festival