Shilpa Sunthankar started in front of the camera, training intensively as an actor for twelve years. She went on to attend New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts: after directing several short films of her own and participating in many other student and independent productions, she was accepted to study with FAMU in Prague and the BBC in London and graduated in 1999 BFA with honors in Film and Television.

Since then, she has moved to Portland, Oregon and freelances in production while writing and directing her own projects. Her 2003 short film Biography of an American Hostess, which she wrote, directed, produced and starred in successfully toured many festivals in the U.S. and Canada,and was awarded Rumblefish Post Production Award by the Northwest Film & Video Festival. Currently, Shilpa is in development on her project Seeta’s Demon, which will be her first feature among the many feature ideas already in the writing process.

Shilpa's Artistic Statement:

For an Indian American like me, raised in Cow-town, U.S.A at a time when cilantro didn’t exist in grocery stores, films like The Namesake, Water, and the scores of Bollywood films showing across America are quite a relief.  I also want to bring a different facet of the Indian American experience to the table.  I want to direct the stories that expose the grit and conflict of that relationship, to see that firecracker go off.

That's not to say all of my ideas are Indian American.  In fact, many of them are not, but they do all have my specific point-of-view, with elements I really enjoy- a good story, solid characters with their own life, and relationships that do things I don't expect.  So, if you like the same things, perhaps you'll join in my journey to bring these stories to life.  Thanks for dropping in.