Deepa Dhanraj

Deepa Dhanraj is an accomplished writer of Indian origin. She is an award-winning filmmaker who has dedicated more than four decades of her life to the women's movement. Deepa is also a director and producer living in Bangalore. She studied English Literature at Madras University and founded the Bangalore-based filmmaking collective Yugantar, which focuses on women's labor and domestic conditions in Southern India. Her work focuses on political participation, health, and education, and she has been actively involved in advocating for women's rights through her films and activism. As one of the founding members of Yugantar, a feminist film collective, Deepa has produced pioneering films that shed light on women's labor and resistance to domestic violence.

Her extensive filmography spans three decades and covers a wide range of topics, from the violence and coercion of population control programs to the rise of Hindu majoritarianism. Deepa is particularly interested in education and has worked extensively with government schools to create pedagogy suited for first-generation learners from Dalit and Adivasi communities. The films directed by her include Something Like a War (1991), Partition pour voix de femmes (2001), and What Happened to This City? (1986).