PRERANA THAKURDESAI

Prerana Thakurdesai is a New York based director & producer creating films between New York and India.  Originally from India, she was a producer on the award-winning India television show, Satyamev Jayate, watched by over 600 million people worldwide. Her latest mini documentary, The Essential Worker, was released by Asian American Documentary Network as part of the #AsianAmResilience series. For the 20th year of 9/11, Prerana produced a documentary special on the children of 9/11 for the History Channel. She also develops films for non-profit organizations to amplify their messaging. In 2020, she directed a series of short films for the Population Foundation of India on the issues of women's reproductive rights. She was also the associate director on a documentary television series on the issue of water management for Indian television hosted by one of India's biggest film personalities, Aamir Khan.

In her previous avatar, Prerana was  a print and broadcast journalist who reported from conflict zones, rural heartlands as well as on urban issues. Prerana's work circles around issues of social justice, identity, women and human condition. Her hope from her films is that they entertain conscientiously.  Prerana thrives in diverse, multilingual spaces that create opportunities to learn and grow collectively.

Prerana is passionate about community building. She serves as the executive director of KALAKARS - a South Asian artist driven collective that aims to strengthen the presence of South Asian Americans in American film and television industries. She also serves as an advisor on the board of the South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA). She is also the founding member of the Bitchitra Collective: Indian Women in Documentary - a group of women/non-binary documentary artists in the US and India.