Satya Rai Nagpaul | Cinematographer

Satya Rai Nagpaul | Cinematographer

Satya Rai Nagpaul is a cinematographer based in Mumbai, who won the prestigious National Award for Best Cinematography at the National Film Awards for his debut feature, Anhe Ghore Da Daan/Alms for a Blind Horse (2011) and the Filmfare for Best Cinematography for Chauthi Koot/The Fourth Direction (2015, Punjabi Edition).

Being the first trans masculine person to graduate as a cinematographer from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, as well as to work in the Mumbai film industry, he’s had an extremely intense decade being part of some groundbreaking South Asian cinema. Satya is also a leading trans rights activist in the Asia Pacific region, having set up the trans (and now intersex inclusive) network Sampoorna in the late 1990s.

Satya has a decade’s worth of screen credits, including Zinda Bhaag (2013), Aligarh, Chauthi Koot/The Fourth Direction (both 2015), and, most recently, Adh Chanani Raat/Crescent Night and Tukdam: Between Worlds (both 2022). His films have been selected at various international film festivals, including the likes of the Oscars, Venice, Berlin, Busan, Rotterdam and Toronto, to name a few, with The Fourth Direction premiering at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard Competition.

In 2021, Satya was invited to become a lifetime member of the Indian Society of Cinematographers. He has also recently completed an MA in Philosophy, with a special interest in South Asian Aesthetics.

In their own words...

“I’m beyond excited [to be selected for BAFTA Breakthrough]... I’m hoping it opens up some really exciting and cutting edge collaborations, both domestically and internationally.”

Back to Breakthrough