Mrugesh Thakor is a Brooklyn-based Indian American director, producer, and editor. His films have screened at the CineYouth Festival by ACADEMY AWARD®-QUALIFYING Chicago International Film Festival, Canadian Screen Award–qualifying New York Shorts International Film Festival, the International Film Festival of South Asia Toronto, and others. He holds a BFA in Film from Pratt Institute. Growing up between two cultures, he became deeply sensitive to the quiet forces that shape identity. His work draws from a poetic realist tradition, influenced by filmmakers such as Yasujirō Ozu and Edward Yang, embracing stillness, observation, and emotional restraint. Through intimate yet objective storytelling, he explores the immigrant experience, coming of age, and the search for belonging, capturing the human condition through layered portraits of people and places.