Junoon Labs is a creative learning space dedicated to helping filmmakers transform their curiosity and ideas into compelling cinematic stories. Rooted in the belief that passion needs process, Junoon Labs focuses on the craft of storytelling.  Starting with non-fiction, we will expand to include fiction writing classes and specialized masterclasses with filmmakers and artists, creating an evolving platform where craft, mentorship, and creative exchange come together. The labs are designed as small, in-person spaces for refining ideas, experimentation, and meaningful feedback. Beyond skill-building, Junoon Labs aims to nurture emerging talent and build a supportive community of storytellers who learn from one another.

Junoon Labs: Turning Passion into Process.

Mentor

Introduction to Documentary Writing by Alka Raghuram

Do you have a story that won’t leave you alone? A memory, a question, a person you can’t stop thinking about, a truth that feels urgent…

Junoon Labs’ 4-Week Documentary Writing Intensive is an in-person development lab designed to help you move from idea to articulation — shaping a documentary concept with structure, voice, stakes, and ethical intention.

Testimonials:

“Alka’s teaching style inspires the storyteller in each of us to look to the guides of intuition and intention to support our words take shape into vision. Her introductory workshop on documentary writing offered a powerful glimpse into the four tenets of documentary development she will explore throughout April to support creators in finding the spine of their stories. Taking her class guides creators toward more fully realizing and manifesting the stories waiting to be brought forward into life.”

Madhvi Trivedi-Pathak

"Introduction to Nonfiction Storytelling,” provided a compelling framework to narrow down our obsessions, and fascinations into actionable documentary proposals. Starting with interpersonal workshops that leveraged active listening and curiosity, and delving into strategies for discerning how our own authorship and subjectivity can inform an audience with fresh ideas, I came away thinking actively about what kind of narrative filmmaking project I’d like to steward, if I were to create a documentary of my choosing. As a social person, I also found the connections she was able to facilitate between audience members to be an enjoyable exercise that fostered relatability and shone a lens on the kind of interest in someone else’s story that’s essential in journalistic filmmaking.”

Shay L.

Alka Raghuram is an award winning Bay Area based filmmaker and a multidisciplinary artist. She has made several fiction, experimental, and documentary films. 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. Currently she is in advance development for her debut fiction film In The Ring, and documentary “Naksha Paani (Face of Water).