Talent Guide

Katyayani Kumar

  • Discipline:Director, Editor, Writer
  • Program Year:Documentary Story Lab 2026

Bio

Katyayani Kumar is a director, editor and writer working across documentary and fiction. Kumar is drawn to stories in the margins, where what slips into the shadows of society waits to be rediscovered. A fellow of UnionDocs in New York and incoming editing fellow at the American Film Institute, Kumar was selected by Academy Award–winning producer Guneet Monga to represent India at TIFF as part of the Women in Film delegation. Kumar’s films, including 𝘊𝘰𝘧𝘧π˜ͺ𝘯𝘦π˜₯ 𝘒𝘡 𝘍π˜ͺ𝘧𝘡𝘦𝘦𝘯 and π˜‰π˜¦π˜©π˜°π˜­π˜₯𝘦𝘳, have screened internationally. Kumar is currently directing 𝘚𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘡𝘩𝘦 π˜™π˜ͺ𝘷𝘦𝘳, supported by DOC NYC, HotDocs, Film Bazaar and more.

Current Project

Sons of the River

Logline

As bodies surface daily in Punjab’s Bhakra Canal, two rivals retrieve the dead from its wake, revealing a life and death struggle over power, morality and survival in a society abandoned by the state.