Director / Writer / Editor
Dev Benegal’s first feature English, August (1994) ignited the next generation of Indian cinema and is acknowledged as a landmark in contemporary Indian cinema.
His second feature Split Wide Open on the water wars in Bombay premiered at the Venice International Film Festival.Between them the two films have won seven international awards and were the first Indian films to be distributed to major theatrical success by 20th Century Fox.
Dev Benegal’s work represents modern Indian cinema which is distinct from the realist or popular traditions of Indian cinema.The strength of his films has been their humor, his characters and his unique style combining Indian narrative and western genre.
The screenplay of his new film, Road, Movie was an official selection at the Cannes International Film Festival and is being produced by Ross Katz (Lost in Translation, Marie Antionette).
His screenplay for Ravan & Eddie an adaptation of the best selling novel by Kiran Nagarkar won the Grand Prix at the Tokyo Creators Forum- Tokyo International Film Festival and was an official selection of the eQuinoxe tbc script workshops in France.
Benegal is acknowledged as a pioneer in digital technology; his was the first Indian feature film to adopt digital post production from picture editing on the Avid to sound design & delivery. His passion for technology and movies saw the birth of his pioneering production program 24×7 Making Movies where he has produced over over 60 short feature films. 24×7 Making Movies invites anyone below 24 years to make a short feature film in 24hours. Variety and the Cannes International Film Festival have acclaimed the films.
He is script advisor to the eQuinoxe tbc script workshops in France and Germany.
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