About Us

The people around the work.

Elsewhere is built on the complementary strengths of its founders — lived experience in independent filmmaking, entrepreneurial execution, and global brand and strategy.

Founders

Triparna Banerjee

Triparna is a writer, director, and producer committed to bringing stories from the margins to global audiences. Her work has been showcased at leading international film festivals, including Toronto, Busan, Red Sea, Palm Springs, and Rotterdam, and selected at L'Atelier Cinéfondation at Cannes, HAF Hong Kong, and APM Busan. She is a Film Independent Global Media Makers fellow. Her films have received National Awards in India. Her documentary work has been supported by Chicken & Egg Pictures' Hatched Grant. Her work explores gender within Indian social realities, often weaving genres with elements of magic realism, thriller and horror.

Ramakanth Thumrugoti

Ramakanth is an entrepreneur with over three decades of building businesses, creative enterprises, and strategic partnerships. His experience across finance, industry relationships, and government engagement brings the operational discipline needed to build Elsewhere as a lasting platform for independent cinema.

Advisory Board

Aseem Chhabra

Aseem Chhabra is the festival director of the New York Indian Film Festival, the oldest Indian festival in North America. He is the author of the biographies of Bollywood actors Shashi Kapoor, Irrfan Khan and Priyanka Chopra. Aseem is a film journalist in New York City and Hyderabad. He has been published in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Time Out/ New York, Mumbai Mirror, Rediff.com, The Hindu, The Hindustan Times, Mint, The Kathmandu Post, BBC.com, Quartz, Scroll, Newslaundry. He's been a commentator on Indian cinema and popular culture on NPR, CNN, BBC, CBC, ABC's 'Good Morning America.'

Elahe Hiptoola

Elahe Hiptoola is an independent film producer with almost three decades of experience and a long-standing producing partnership with filmmaker Nagesh Kukunoor. Her credits include Rockford, 3 Deewarein, Iqbal, Dor and Dhanak. Her films have travelled widely internationally, with Dhanak premiering at Berlinale, where it won the Generation Kplus Grand Prix and a Special Mention from the Children's Jury, followed by screenings at TIFF Kids and IFFLA. She is also the co-founder of Lamakaan, Hyderabad's multidisciplinary cultural space.