Indian-origin American filmmaker Geeta Gandbhir is set to receive the Impact Award at a Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival ceremony, according to Deadline. The 34th edition of the HSDFF in Arkansas, which is the longest-running nonfiction cinema festival in North America, is slated to begin on October 10.
According to the HSDFF, the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker “began her career in narrative film under the mentorship of Spike Lee and Sam Pollard. Having spent over a decade in scripted film, she has since transitioned to documentary filmmaking. Gandbhir is now on path to securing the Impact Award at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival after the screening of her own docu-film The Perfect Neighbor, which will premiere on Netflix on October 17.
About Indian-origin filmmaker Geeta Gandbhir’s The Perfect Neighbor
Having a runtime of 97 minutes, The Perfect Neighbor helped the American filmmaker of Indian descent to secure the Directing Award for US Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival. It centres around the harrowing circumstances leading up to her family friend and community member Ajike “AJ” Owens’ killing by a disgruntled neighbour.
Unravelling the community she lives, Gandbhir’s film prioritises story-telling through police body camera footage. The whole process ultimately becomes her own way of coming to terms with the tragedy.
Who is Geeta Gandbhir?
Having grown up in Boston, Gandbhir’s family immigrated from India. She eventually went on to study at Harvard University. According to the HSDFF, she directed Katrina: Come Hell and High Water along with Spike Lee and Samantha Knowles. She was also tied to The Devil Is Busy, How We Get Free, Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power.
Her recent Netflix profile with filmmaker Petra Costa stated that Spike Lee was her mentor. One of the very first films she worked on was Malcolm X. Thanks to Sam Pollard, her real entry into the documentary would was through When the Levees Broke.