Private Project

Rooting for Roona

Rooting for Roona is the story of a little girl named Roona Begum. Roona was born with a birth defect that caused her head to swell to a size the world had never seen. Her parents, Abdul and Fatema, were told by local hospitals that nothing could be done. They took her home and waited for the inevitable. Then one day a photograph of Roona went viral and triggered an amazing chain of events. This is the story of one family and how they raise an extraordinary child against insurmountable odds.

  • Pavitra Chalam
    Director
    Indelible, Two Feet to Fly
  • Akshay Shankar
    Director
    Two Feet to Fly
  • Curley Street
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    Children, Health, Maternal Health, Women, Child health, Developing nations, Birth Defects, Social Cause, Social Good, Awareness, India, Rural, Documentary, Real life, North East India, Women's rights, Child rights, Medical, Asia, Mothers
  • Runtime:
    39 minutes 59 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 29, 2019
  • Country of Origin:
    India
  • Country of Filming:
    India
  • Language:
    Bengali, English
  • Shooting Format:
    HDV
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala
    Trivandrum, Kerala
    India
    June 22, 2019
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Pavitra Chalam, Akshay Shankar

Pavitra Chalam (Director):

Pavitra Chalam is an award-winning documentary filmmaker based in Bangalore. Her films on issues of social importance have received critical acclaim across the world. She has been directing films for over 15 years and is the founder of Curley Street. Pavitra’s journey with film started in 2003, where as part of the Youth Initiative for Peace in Pakistan, she made her film debut ‘Bus’ – a cinematic exposition on the shared ideals of the youth of both nations.
Pavitra earned her Masters in filmmaking at the New York Film Academy in 2006. Her thesis at the New York Film Academy ‘Anamika – Her Glorious Past’ was selected for the Sixth IAAC Film Festival, 2006 in New York. The film went on to receive critical acclaim at the Indian Film Festival, Los Angeles in 2007 and at a special screening in Washington at the World Bank.
She has been privileged to receive numerous awards over the last decade including the Ability Media International Award for best film in 2010 for ‘Khushboo’, a film about children with complex needs. In 2012 Pavitra directed ‘Indelible’, the story of seven people with Down syndrome living in India. She was awarded the Asia-Pacific Award for ‘Outstanding New Documentary Talent’ at the DocWeek film festival in Adelaide for Indelible.

Akshay Shankar (Director):

Akshay Shankar is a filmmaker and the CEO of Curley Street. After four successful years in investment banking, Akshay chose to pursue his first love, filmmaking. Since his foray into cinema, Akshay has donned many hats like that of director, producer, and writer. He made his directorial debut in 2014 with Two Feet To Fly, India’s first film on marathon running.

Pavitra and Akshay presented Rooting for Roona (RFR) at India’s first GoodPitch forum in 2014. They were subsequently invited to participate in the IDFA Global Impact Producers Assembly in Amsterdam in 2016.

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