About Dr Vikrant Kishore
Dr Vikrant Kishore is a filmmaker, academic and journalist. He has authored and edited books on Indian cinema, celebrity culture, and intangible cultural heritage. Currently, he has been capturing stories of cultural flows and its impact on the Indian diaspora in Australia. He has organized various international conferences, film festivals, and seminars on Indian cinema. He has been a jury member in various film festivals, such as ATOM Awards (Australia), Real Film Festival (Newcastle), Melbourne Web Film Festival, and Doordarshan National Awards (India). He was a pre-jury member of The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards (AACTA) Awards (2018). Dr Kishore is a board member of the Australia India Film Council, a member of the Victorian Multicultural Commission’s Regional Advisory Council, and an advisor to the Scanlon Research Foundation.
My Latest Projects
Synopsis: Covid-19 lockdown through the eyes of a six-year-old Pariza Mira Kishore. During the 2020 Covid-19 onslaught, while most of the adults were stressed and anxious with the changing situation across the globe (economic impact, border closures, job cuts etc.) for young kids it was something different, it was a time to stay at home 24x7 with parents, have fun, dream a little more, and explore the online world. This short film provides a sneak-peek into six-year-old Pariza’s life during the seven months lockdown in Melbourne, Australia.
Dancing to the Tunes of Bollywood II
This documentary analyses the role of the Indian folk dance forms in Indian cinema, in particular, Hindi/Bollywood cinema. Utilising interviews with filmmakers, dance experts, performers and Bollywood fans, the documentary brings to the fore discussions regarding how Bollywood song-dance sequences are having considerable influence on the traditional folk dance forms of India, both in terms of form and content.
International Conference on Intangible Cultural Heritage
World Folklore Festival, Gannat, France 2020
Storytelling through Masks: Ritual, Religion, Resistance
Date: 16th October 2020 www.gannatconference.com
It's My Desi Life
With a strong multicultural theme – Indian heart, Australian heartbeat, this web-series focuses on Australians of Indian heritage and how they proudly represent a fine blend of the two distinct culture… the fourteen episodes of the series highlight the protagonist’s journey from India to Australia (or vice-versa), their struggle and success, and how they meld their own culture with local mores. The aim of the series is to celebrate diversity and to create awareness about the Australian Indians and their approach towards adapting to a new life in multi-cultural Australia. Each episode ends with the question - what makes them an Australian-Indian?
Research Area
As a creative practitioner and researcher, my focus areas are Indian and Asian Cinema, Intangible Cultural heritage (performing arts), folk and popular culture, reality television programmes, factual web-series (cultural diversity and inclusion, stories of diaspora and belonging), caste politics, and race issues. My research outputs include traditional (books/edited books, articles, book chapters) and non-traditional outputs, such as video (documentaries, short films, music videos), web-series, curation of film festival and multi-media exhibition.
Creative Research
Through creative research projects, I aim to question, observe and capture stories of cultural flows and its impact on current practices, and future sustenance. I like to integrate traditional cultural practices with new media technologies to archive, create digital exposition, collaborate on multi-media media exhibitions and festivals.
I am working on two specific research areas since 2012, both research areas have strong aspects of "motion and creativity" attached to it - 1. Cultural creativity and continuity/Culture in Motion 2. Motion Pictures.
