Hemal Trivedi

Hemal Trivedi is an internationally celebrated filmmaker for 20 years. Her 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. She has won over 30 other prestigious awards and honors. Her work has been showcased in film festivals including Sundance, Tribeca, IDFA, Full Frame and AFI and venues including the United Nations and US Department of State. Her work has been broadcast on Netflix, HBO, PBS (Frontline and Independent Lens), YouTube Red, Channel 4 and several other broadcast venues. She is a member of the television academy, alumni to Tribeca, Sundance, IDFA and Chicken and Egg Foundation. She has served as a speaker, panelist and judge for TEDx, Independent Film Week, the Emmys and other prestigious awarding bodies.

She 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.