Shivani Sharma

Age: 23

Home Town: Nasik, Maharashtra

Education: B.Sc. in Filmmaking (Whistling Woods International)

Specific Field Interests: Filmmaking

Placement: Fair Trade Forum-India, New Delhi, NCR

Area of Focus: Livelihoods

Highlights: Filmmaker and visual artist Shivani was born in the small town of Nasik in Maharashtra and is currently based in Mumbai. Shivani’s work includes stories that lend themselves to a philosophical exploration on the human condition. During the third year of her study in B.Sc. Filmmaking specialized in Direction from Whistling Woods International, she directed her diploma short film “DOPDI,” an adaptation of Mahashweta Devi’s Draupadi. A story about a tribal woman, driven by oppression who finds herself surrounded by darkness after liberation. Her film was short-listed as one of the finalists for the 2018 Ca’ Foscari International Short Film Festival in Venice and was screened at the festival in San Servolo. Shivani recently worked as an assistant director on a Marathi feature film “Bogda,” story about a dysfunctional mother daughter relationship. Before graduating, Shivani had also started her Friends of Prajwala group, inspired by the social activist and co-founder of the nonprofit organization Prajwala Sunitha Krishnan’s work towards sex trafficking. Shivani along with her team conducted seminars to raise awareness across schools and colleges. Second to filmmaking, she enjoys travelling, photography and making journals. Working as a Clinton fellow with Fair Trade Forum India, she hopes to take the best of both worlds, artistic inspiration and a purpose by helping the artisan community.