“Speak, for truth is living yet, Speak whatever must be said.” Faiz Ahmed Faiz
Kahini Media is a Mumbai-based production house. Brainchild of filmmaker Roopa Barua, Kahini Media brings artists from various disciplines to collaborate and create moments of beauty and significance. Running the gamut from music videos, feature documentaries, drama installations and short films, Kahini Media has delivered consistently with award-winning projects that play on the art and dynamics between fragile lives and quantum emotions in a changing landscape.
Roopa Barua, Founder & Creative Head, Kahini Media 2012 - present
Roopa Barua is a fan of the cinematic medium. She seeks to create nuanced cinema that goes beyond geography or human boundaries. Three of her films Daughters of the Polo God, Sister of the Trees and Riders of the Mist have all gone on to win rare reviews and multiple awards internationally in New York, London, Houston, Vancouver and in India. Roopa’s films have been shown in over 20 international film festivals and TV broadcasts. Themes of roots, belonging, alienation and the human spirit find constant space in her works. Her newer works and endeavours are at the crossroads of rural futures and a racing human civilization. When not ideating on films or the visual medium, Roopa is working with women polo players to strengthen their sisterhood and carry the game forward.
PoloYatra, Mumbai, Partner 2016 - present
Roopa is a partner and social entrepreneur at PoloYatra which is the Indian women’s polo iniatitive of Huntré Equine (www.huntre.org), a social enterprise that works in the nexus of sports and culture. PoloYatra has successfully conducted polo games between USA/India in Jaipur 2016/17, USPA/Hyderabad 2018, USA/India in Mumbai 2019, USA/Egypt/India in Hyderabad 2020. A large charter of PoloYatra is to work towards ‘Saving the Manipuri Pony’ and uplifting Manipuri women through polo. PoloYatra has brought in international women’s teams to India from USA, Canada, UK, Argentina, Kenya, Australia and Egypt. Top sponsors for PoloYatra projects include the Bombay Stock Exchange, Edelweiss Capital, co-sponsors include Mercedes Benz and TruJet. PoloYatra has also worked with the State of Manipur to host the Women International Polo Tournament in Manipur for Manipur Statehood Day since 2016. Participating teams include USA, UK, Argentina, Canada, Kenya, Egypt, IPA (Delhi) & Manipur. For more information, please visit www.kahinisports.com.
Roopa is the Head of Projects for the Bimal Roy Memorial Society. She is also a frequent contributor to the movie blog “A Potpourri of Vestiges.” Roopa covered the Cannes Film Festival 2015 for films in both the Palme D’Or and the Un Certain Regard categories for this blog. Roopa is one of the co-organizers of the Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival in Guwahati, Assam which showcases the best of independent cinema of Northeast India and beyond. She has a Certificate in Film Production from New York Film Academy and a film criticism certificate at the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to her career as a filmmaker, Roopa was a banker with Morgan Stanley in Boston and San Francisco. She has a degree in Economics and Finance from Boston University. Roopa’s blog is available at www.teagirlforever.com