Wedding Preparations in the Country

Akash Sharma is an independent film director and editor based in Kolkata, India. He has studied filmmaking (MFA) in the Sarajevo Film Academy's film.factory program under the mentorship of Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr and German maestro Fred Kelemen. He has been tutored by the likes of Lav Diaz, Zeki Demirkubuz, Jacques Ranciere, Abel Ferrara and Atom Egoyan. Akash also worked as 1st assistant director in India with filmmaker Aditya Vikram Sengupta (on his second feature film, ‘Jonaki’), who won the best debut film award in Venice Days 2014 for his film 'Labor of Love'.

Akash’s first short film, 'The Mute Call' (2015), travelled to various national and international festivals including the South African International Film Festival (Rapid Lion), Sanford International Film Festival (US), InShorts Film Festival (UK), Goa Short Film Festival, Ahmednagar International Short Film Festival and Kolkata Short Film Festival (Best Film).

His second short film, 'Wedding Preparations in the Country' (2017), produced in Bosnia, was in competition at the International and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK 2017), SiGNS Film Festival Kochi, Kalpanirjhar Film Festival (Kolkata), Viva Film Festival (Bosnia), Jahorina Film Festival (Bosnia), Tuzla Film Festival (Bosnia) and Kolkata Short Film Festival (Best Film). The film was finally picked up by Gonella Productions (France) for worldwide distribution.

Akash’s third long short film, ‘The Fall’, also produced in Bosnia had its world premiere in the Sarajevo Film Festival (August 2018) whose jury was headed by Iranian filmmaker Ashgar Farhadi. The festival also gave a tribute to Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan. The film is expected to continue its journey to various festivals.

He has been covered by ‘The Times of India Pune edition (India's best-selling newspaper) as one of the most promising young filmmakers in the country in 2014. He has also been covered by the best magazine for independent filmmaking in India, ‘Film India Worldwide’ run by Uma Da Cunha. His films ‘Wedding Preparations in the Country’ and ‘The Fall’ were featured in the magazine in the March-April and July-August issue of 2018. He has also been featured on Bengali TV channel, Mon TV, which showcased his film, The Mute Call, followed by an interview/ Q & A on regional television.

His documentary for the Rotary Club was sent to several countries across the world including Botswana, Burundi, Bujumbura, Zambia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Argentina, Australia, US, Sri Lanka, Nepal, France, Belgium and the UK. He also directed another documentary, ‘Our Panchayat: An Introspection’ on the problems and reforms needed in the rural government of West Bengal. The documentary was screened in almost every village of West Bengal on giant screens before the 2013 elections, in the hope that it would arouse the consciousness of the people and propel them to vote for change.

Akash graduated in Media & Communication (Audio-Visual Specialization) in 2014 from Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication (UG), Pune. He now works and runs an independent film production house, Great Indian Noise Pictures, in Kolkata. He is currently in post-production of his first feature film shot in Kolkata.