Ridashisha Kurbah (born July 25, 1999) is an Indian filmmaker from the Khasi tribe in Meghalaya. She primarily makes her films in her native language, Khasi. Coming from a relatively neglected part of the country and a family not deeply involved in films or cinema, she watched her first film in a theatre, Alita: Battle Angel, in 2019 with her college friends. However, this did not make her unfamiliar with films or cinema.
As a child, she would replay scenes from the films she watched, re-enacting them in her own way—such as imagining herself arguing with the robbers from Home Alone 3 when they captured the old lady, Mrs. Hess, along with many other scenes she saw on TV. Identifying a specific film that made her fall in love with cinema is challenging, as she consumed anything available on TV. She learned about characters through Bollywood films while watching them with her mother. Some of these included Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat, Khoon Bhari Maang, Sholay, and 3 Idiots, among others, alongside numerous Hollywood films.
However, her greatest love is for animated films, with favorites like the Kung Fu Panda series, Soul, Inside Out, The Incredibles series, Antz, Happy Feet, the Ice Age series, 101 Dalmatians, Paprika, Grave of the Fireflies, A Silent Voice and The Secret World of Arrietty, to name a few.
Her journey into filmmaking began when she chose to study photography before graduating high school. Her father gifted her a digital camera, which she used to teach herself photography. Her first professional opportunity came when a relative invited her to do wedding photography. Although the photos were not professional-quality, she persisted and enrolled in a one-month certificate course in Photoshop and design at St. Anthony’s College, Shillong, where she would later pursue her Bachelor's Degree.
She studied Media Technologies under the Mass Communication department and began writing and making short films during and after college. Her early films were self-funded, shot, and edited entirely by her. One film she proudly reflects on, despite its flaws, is ‘Dutch Wife’, which she made with her classmates.
After completing her Bachelor's Degree, she joined the L.V. Prasad College of Media Studies for a PG Diploma in Film Direction. This experience immersed her in a wealth of knowledge about storytelling, genres, and filmmaking techniques. Since then, she has written and directed three short films.