Kavery Kaul

Filmmaker

New York, New York, United States

Kavery Kaul is an award-winning director and producer whose documentaries reframe who "we" are. Through an intimate lens, she crafts stories which boundlessly straddle different worlds. The founder of riverfilms, her works have been featured at DOC NYC, Telluride, London, Sydney and other major festivals; at the Museum of Modern Art (NY), the Kennedy Center (DC), National Museum of Women in the Arts (DC), Jameel Arts Centre (Dubai), and American Center (Kolkata and Delhi, India). 


The Alliance of Women Film Journalists calls The Bengali "a lyrical and poetic documentary that shows how stories and presumptions can change, forging connections that are rich and real --- not just to the past, but to the world at large." The Academy Film Archive and the Women's Film Preservation Fund restored her early film One Hand Don't Clap for 4K theatrical release in the US and internationally. Hailed as “a film classic” by The Guardian (UK), Overly Honest Reviews calls it “a symphony of sight and sound that brings the heart of Calypso and Soca to life”. Kavery’s other credits include Cuban Canvas, Long Way From Home, and First Look, narrated by Harry Belafonte. 


An India-born American, her work has been supported by the Ford Foundation, Doris Duke Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts, She has garnered a Fulbright Senior Fellowship and an Imagen Award nomination as well as a New York City Proclamation of Excellence. In her highly acclaimed Tedx Talk, she speaks to the power of storytelling as a way to connect people across divides. As arts speaker on the occasion of Fulbright's 75th anniversary, she reminded us that "Stories Matter".