Pragyanam – In the Spotlight

About the Director – NinaSugati SR Shivdasani Rovshen

YOGA Siromani

Education:

• MFA in Film Direction & Production, California Institute of the Arts (CalArts)
• BFA with Honors in Painting and Photography, Arcadia University
• Painting Fellowship, Whitney Museum
• A Grade in Photography, School of Visual Arts
• Fine & Applied Art, J J Institute
• Principals’ Prize for All-Round Leadership, Cathedral School, Mumbai

Exhibitions:

• National Gallery of Modern Art
• Cymroza & Chemould Art Galleries
• Nehru Centre
• Paintings in Prestigious Art Collections such as Prince of Wales Museum, Jehangir Nicholson’s Collection, Bharat Bhavan Museum, among others

Professional Work:

• Originator of Imageography Films and Abstract Miniatures
• Currently working on other film edits
• Offers consulting, counseling, and mentoring

Director’s Filmography:

1. Imageography Award-Winning Film Poems
2. Breaking Ground (1971)

• 15 minutes, 16mm Color
• A 9-year-old black girl’s search for identity

1. Hope No One’s Listening (1972)

• 15 minutes, 16mm Color
• Four victims of a technological society

1. A World of All Intelligence (1972)

• 5 minutes, 16mm Color
• A six-layered philosophical film combining optical printer techniques, live action, and animation

1. The Banana Leaf (1972)

• 5 minutes, 35mm Color, Poetic Documentary
• Essence of an IBM computer chip

1. Chhatrabhang or The Divine Plan (1975)

• 75 minutes, 16mm and 35mm Color
• Roles: Author, Director, Co-Producer, Concept, Editing, Sound Design, Cinema Language
• An analysis of caste and rural relations, examining how economic position and social status enable political clout through the conscientization of a rural woman
• Awards:
  • First Indian film director to receive the International FIPRESCI Critic’s Award at the Berlin Film Festival (1976)
  • Maharashtra State Award for Best Film (1976)
  • Invited to approximately 30 festivals worldwide and screened at several
• 1976: Member of International Jury at Carthage Film Days

1. Purnam Evavashishyate – Wholeness Yet Remains (2016)

• 1 hour 35 minutes, HD Digital
• Chhatrabhang with Prologue & Epilogue

1. Sunlight and Love in Motion (2020)

• 90 minutes

1. SWA: Source Within Inner Wealth (2022)

• 192 minutes, HD Digital Color

1. Consciousness_ Pragyanam aka Nadh Resonance (2023)
   • 59 minutes, HD Digital Color

Director Statement

Imageography forms the foundation of OGA Siromani’s cine art films. This approach is rooted in the hypothesis that Srutis—intrinsic truths and laws of nature, received by the Rishis from vibrations during the process of life—exist everywhere and in everyone, both within us and in the beyond. These truths merge, as in AtmaBrahm, the soul and the universal absolute.

Siromani believes that these truths are not to be searched for; rather, they reveal themselves when one is acutely aware in a holistic manner, particularly through dhyan (meditation) in the present moment. This approach suggests that we embody and live the eternal truths of Sanatan Dharma, the attributes of essential existence in its most natural and integral form.

For Siromani, the artist-philosopher, the task is to perceive and experience these truths as objectively and intuitively as possible, then express them through the language of cinema. To provide clarity and depth of vision, Siromani utilizes imageographic visual thought and sound design to explore and develop the nuances of each concept. This method allows a free-form, organic cosmic flow to emerge in the film, creating a universal language that becomes a meaningful and significant classical art statement or historical document on the environment at various eras of history.

Siromani’s work aims to make the essential visible, the unfamiliar intimate, and the familiar clearer than ever before. There is an assurance—’aashvaasan’—of an inner transformation of self and an enlightened new interpretation and understanding of our place within the whole.

Inspired by a study of the Upanishads and personal interactions and relationships with the environment and humanity, Siromani’s role encompasses director, producer, author, concept developer, cinema language expert, DOP & cinematographer, and editor.

Credits & Specifications

Judging status

Finalist – Best Experimental Film – Season 13