Pavitra Chalam

Athlete, Change Agent, Entrepreneur, Filmmaker, Foodie, Global soul, Idea generator, Performer, Social entrepreneur, World traveler

Pavitra Chalam is a graduate student from the New York Film Academy’s Filmmaking Program. She studied at the Frank Anthony Public School in Bangalore and was a National level roller skater and athlete for over ten years. She received her B.A. in History, Political Science and Economics in 2002 from Mount Carmel College (Bangalore University). Pavitra subsequently attended an intensive course in broadcast journalism facilitated by BBC trainers at the Asian College of Journalism and went on to work at the New Delhi National News Network in Bangalore as an intern for six months. In July 2003, Pavitra was privileged to represent India at the Youth Initiative for Peace in Pakistan where she made her film debut with ‘Bus’ – a cinematic exposition of the shared ideals of the youth of both nations. Later that year, as a journalist at the World Youth Congress in Morocco, Pavitra contributed to the creation of the Casablanca Declaration presented to the United Nations. Ever the global nomad, Pavitra traveled all across Europe in 2004 as an Ambassador of the NGO – Peace Child International and used film as a medium to ignite the minds of young people in France, Spain, Germany, Scotland, England and Ireland. Pavitra was invited to present a report on the failure of genetically modified crops in India at the Convergence Festival in Dublin and was featured on the cover of Ireland’s Life magazine as a forerunner of the ‘global sustainability’ community. After returning from New York, Pavitra has been working as an independent film-maker addressing issues ranging from drug addiction and rehabilitation, dealing with cancer and women and children's rights. She has also worked with numerous NGOs such as Dream-a-Dream and Khushboo and made corporate films for Titan and GMR industries. She was also the film-maker behind the 'Unlock Bangalore', 'Bleeding Bangalore' and 'Clean-up Bangalore' campaigns. Pavitra Chalam’s dream is to eternalize issues that are important, moments that are precious to the fabric of change that is constantly being woven - and bring them to the world through the magical and powerful medium of film. She considers film an important platform to communicate the change she wants to effect – irrespective of education, culture, status or language; spread awareness on how to action this change and through the strength of the cinema engage a larger audience to lead this transformation. Hers is a collaborative art; it enables her to work with other change makers to put forth their vision to the world. In a world where time is at a premium, films make a pithy statement on the subject at hand and leave the audience with a persistent impression of images that are hard to ignore.

people and their stories, India, change, films, music, reading and adventure

Athletics, Direction and Script Writing of Documentaries, Editing (Final Cut Pro)