Hemal Trivedi

{{short description|Indian documentary film director and editor}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Hemal Trivedi

| image =

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| birth_name =

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| birth_place = Maharashtra, India

| occupation = Director, editor, producer

| years_active = 2006–present

| notable_works =

}}

Hemal Trivedi is an Indian documentary film director, editor and producer.{{Cite web|url=https://womenandhollywood.com/tribeca-2015-women-directors-meet-hemal-trivedi-among-the-believers-81b60d5c0bbe/|title=Tribeca 2015 Women Directors: Meet Hemal Trivedi — 'Among the Believers'|website=womenandhollywood.com|access-date=2020-09-18}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.rediff.com/news/interview/meet-the-mumbai-lady-in-a-pakistani-madrasa/20151209.htm|title=Meet the Mumbai lady in a Pakistani madrasa|publisher=Rediff|access-date=2022-06-13|first=Syed Firdaus|last=Ashraf|date=9 December 2015}} She is best known for her work on the documentaries Shabeena's Quest, and Among the Believers.{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/witness/2012/11/2012112612156945376.html|title=Shabeena's Quest|website=aljazeera.com|access-date=2020-09-18}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/30/movies/among-the-believers-review.html|title=Review: In 'Among the Believers,' a Cleric Holds Sway|website=The New York Times|access-date=2020-09-18}}

Life and career

Hemal was born and raised in Maharashtra, India. She holds an MBA in Marketing from SVKM's NMIMS and an MFA from the University of Florida.{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2015/04/meet-the-2015-tribeca-filmmakers-51-books-not-bombs-will-end-pakistani-conflict-in-among-the-believers-62872/|title=Meet the 2015 Tribeca Filmmakers #51: Books, Not Bombs, Will End Pakistani Conflict in 'Among the Believers'|website=indiewire.com|access-date=2020-09-18}}

Hemal Trivedi (India/U.S.) has been editing and directing documentary films for 20 years. Her entire body of work has won one Oscar, three Emmys, one Peabody and seven Emmy nominations, a nomination for MTV Movie Awards, nominations for Independent Spirits Awards and Cinema Eye Award. Netflix, HBO, PBS (Frontline and Independent Lens), YouTube Red, Showtime, BBC, Topic and Channel 4 have broadcast her work. Her films have screened in prestigious festivals like Sundance, TIFF, Tribeca, IDFA, CPH-DOX, Telluride, IFFI Goa, Berlin Film Festival.

She is a member of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Television Academy. She was recently selected as a participant in the “Television Academy’s Peer Circle Program", a small group of 12 Emmy winning filmmakers who meet monthly to grow their skills professionally. She has served as a speaker, mentor, panelist and judge for TEDx, Independent Film Week, the Emmys, Oscars and other prestigious awarding bodies.

In 2015, Hemal co-directed the feature documentary, Among the Believers, along with Mohammed Ali Naqvi, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.{{Cite web|url=https://tribecafilm.com/films/among-the-believers-2015|title=AMONG THE BELIEVERS|website=tribecafilm.com|access-date=2020-09-18}} The Central Board of Film Censors (CFBC) banned, Among the Believers, from being screened in Pakistan, giving the reason that it "projects the negative image of Pakistan in the context of ongoing fight against extremism terrorism."{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/sonyarehman/2016/05/01/documentary-on-extremism-banned-in-pakistan/#6d58ada42479|title=Documentary On Extremism Banned In Pakistan|website=forbes.com|access-date=2020-09-18}} Both Hemal and co-director Mohammed Ali Naqvi received death threats after the release of the film, forcing them to go into hiding for a period of time.{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Hemal-Trivedi-Received-death-threats-for-Among-The-Believers/articleshow/49960870.cms|title=Hemal Trivedi: Received death threats for 'Among The Believers'|newspaper=The Times of India|access-date=2022-06-13|agency=PTI|date=28 November 2015}}

In 2020, Hemal directed, Battleground, about current political divide, as seen through the eyes of two grassroots political leaders in the key pivot county of Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, and aired nationally on PBS.{{Cite web|url=https://podbay.fm/p/artapproved-podcast-by-mynewyorkeye/e/1597544259|title=A chat w/ Filmmaker Hemal Trivedi Political Divide, Black Lives Matter, Indian Americans & Kamala Harris, and more!|website=podbay.fm|access-date=2020-09-18}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/show/battleground/|title=Battleground|website=pbs.org|access-date=2020-09-18|archive-date=17 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017070522/https://www.pbs.org/show/battleground/|url-status=dead}}

She started her filmmaking career at Odyssey Networks where she made short films

focussed on building bridges of understanding in conflict zones around the world. She’s

made films on Haiti, Sudan, Nigeria, covered the Arab Spring coupled with the rise of ISIS

and across America covering topics from race based gentrification to politics of hunger.

Soon she got her first break in long form documentaries when she edited an HBO

documentary Saving Face. The film won an Academy Award and Hemal won her first Emmy

for Outstanding Editing. Hemal directed her first film in Pakistan as well. Her film, Among the

Believers, on a radical mosque - The Red Mosque - and Pakistan’s internal struggle against

religious extremism, premiered at Tribeca and traveled the world. It won 22 prominent

awards and an Emmy, Independent Spirit, Cinema Eye and UNESCO Fellini nomination.

Hemal’s other key credits are: Philly DA, Battleground, Watergate, This is Everything: Gigi

Gorgeous, Among the Believers, Inshallah Democracy, Outlawed in Pakistan, Saving Face,

and When the Drum is Beating.

Hemal was born and raised in an inner-city chawl (the ghetto) of Mumbai, India, Hemal

spent her formative years striving to climb the social ladder. She did odd jobs ranging from

working as a concierge in Mumbai's five-star hotels, to a lab technician in a microbiology

lab. With the help of a state scholarship, Hemal entered one of India's most prestigious

business schools in India (NMIMS) and got her MBA in Marketing. She worked in mutual

funds in India before moving to the U.S. to pursue her passion for non-fiction storytelling.

She has a master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from University of

Florida.

Filmography

class="wikitable sortable"
Year !Title ! Director ! Editor ! Producer ! Note
2006 \| Tell Me a Story \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| Documentary short
2008 \| Flying on One Engine \| style="text-align:center;"\| \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| style="text-align:center;"\| \| Documentary
2010 \| Beyond Mumbai: Hope and Healing \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| Documentary short
2011 \| When the Drum Is Beating \| style="text-align:center;"\| \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| style="text-align:center;"\| \| Documentary
2011 \| Voices of Sudan \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| style="text-align:center;"\| \| style="text-align:center;"\| \| Documentary short
2012 \| Saving Face \| style="text-align:center;"\| \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| style="text-align:center;"\| \| Documentary short
2012 \| Shabeena's Quest \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| Documentary short
2013 \| Outlawed in Pakistan \| style="text-align:center;"\| \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| style="text-align:center;"\| \| Documentary short
2015 \| Among the Believers \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| Documentary
2017 \| This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous \| style="text-align:center;"\| \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| style="text-align:center;"\| \| Documentary
2017 \| My Big Bollywood Wedding \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| TV show
2017 \| Insha'Allah Democracy \| style="text-align:center;"\| \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| style="text-align:center;"\| \| Documentary
2018 \| Watergate: Or how we learned to control an out of control president \| style="text-align:center;"\| \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| style="text-align:center;"\| \| Documentary series
2020 \| Battleground \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| Documentary
2021 \| Philly DA \| style="text-align:center;"\| \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| style="text-align:center;"\| \| Documentary Series
2022 \|In Search of My Sister \| style="text-align:center;"\| \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| style="text-align:center;"\| {{y}} \| Documentary

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

!Title

! Director

! Editor

! Producer

! Note

2006

| Tell Me a Story