About
Sailesh Naidu (they/them) is a writer, filmmaker, and researcher who explores the relationship between the deeply personal and the deeply connected. They spent the last decade working in the field of education and forced migration with a focus on gender and sexuality. In 2016 they were awarded the prestigious German Chancellor’s Fellowship and served under mentorship of Office Chancellor Angela Merkel. In 2021 their debut short film “DogFriend” which they Creatd and Produced was awarded funding by the German Ministry of Arts and Culture. “DogFriend '' had its world premier at the British Film Institute, was featured at the Tribeca Film Festival and was nominated for the German LOLA in 2022. Most recently they are Rickshaw Foundation Fellow for up and coming South Asian screenwriters. They also work closely with Berlinale and the European Film Market as a consultant for DEI and serve as a moderator of the EFM DEI consortium for Berlinale 2023 and 2024. They were the primary author for EFM DEI Pathways Report in 2024. Sailesh has also served as a jury member for the interfilm festival and Queer FF Munchen. Collectively their works have been featured in the NYTimes, Die Zeit, The Schwules Museum, Gropius Bau, Urania Berlin, LiteraturHaus Berlin, DADDY Magazine, GALDEM, Volksbühne Berlin, among many others. They are currently a 2024 OTV Fellow.
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