Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni (b. 1976, Pune, India) graduated from the Film and Television Institute in Pune and began as a director of short features and documentaries (e.g. Satyakam, Save the Children, Darshan). He impressed audiences with the short film The Grinding Machine (Girni, 2005), about a poor family whose life is changed for the best – and worst – by technology. The film was acclaimed not only in the director's native country, but also at a number of festivals (e.g. it won the short film competition at the Fresh Film Fest 2005). His feature debut The Wild Bull (Valu, 2008) won Best Director and Best Cinematography at the Pune IFF in 2008 and was successfully screened at the Rotterdam IFF and in the Another View section at the KVIFF in 2008. His second film The Well, a tale of adolescence marked by tragedy, has enjoyed similar success.
MFF Karlovy Vary
