Ben Rekhi is an American director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for '' Waterborne'' (2005), ''

Fun Size Horror Fun Size Horror is a collective of filmmakers, led by Zeke Pinheiro, Mali Elfman, and Michael May. The collective's purpose is to create short films that will "explore horror from every angle." Pinheiro first came up with the idea after realizin ...

: Volume One'' (2015), and ''

The Ashram ''The Ashram'' is a 2005 novel by Indian writer Sattar Memon, about the plight of an oppressed young woman in India. Plot summary Jonathan Kingsley tries to save himself from suicidal thoughts after the death of his wife by travelling to a Hima ...

'' (2018).

Education

Ben Rekhi graduated from New York University's

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

, where he directed and produced a number of films, including The Waste Project, which won the Best Actor prize at the First Run Festival, and Dirty Laundry, recipient of Warner Bros. Pictures Postproduction grant. Rekhi graduated from

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8. ...

with a Masters from the Peter Stark Producing Program.

Career

Rekhi has worked on the set of ''

O Brother, Where Art Thou? ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' is a 2000 comedy drama film written, produced, co-edited, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson, with Chris Thomas King, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, and ...

'' and shot the behind-the-scenes documentary for '' Confessions of a Dangerous Mind''. He founded Drops Entertainment and produced his first feature film, ''

Bomb the System ''Bomb the System'' is a drama film written and directed by Adam Bhala Lough, which was released to film festivals in 2002 and American theaters in 2005. It revolves around a group of graffiti artists living in New York City who decide to make a m ...

'', which was nominated for the 2004 Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature and distributed by Palm Pictures. His directorial debut, '' Waterborne'', was the runner-up for the narrative audience prize at the 2005 SXSW Film Festival, and ''

Car Babes ''Car Babes'' is a 2006 independent comedy film starring Ben Savage and directed by Nick Fumia and Chris Wolf. The title of producer Ben Rekhi's ''Car Babes'' comes from the term car salesmen use for each other. He realizes that some might suspe ...

'', which he produced, premiered at the Hollywood Film Festival. Rekhi also served as VP of Acquisitions at Apsara Distribution. Apsara obtained exclusive Asia distribution rights to Harrison Ford's ''

Paranoia Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy conce ...

''. Rekhi directed ''The Ashram'' (2016) in

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

, featuring

Sam Keeley Samuel Keeley is an Irish actor from County Offaly. His first major acting break was in the role of Philip in the RTÉ's hit television series '' Raw''. He later appeared in the films '' Burnt'', '' Monsters: Dark Continent'', ''The Siege of Ja ...

Kal Penn Kalpen Suresh Modi (born April 23, 1977), known professionally as Kal Penn, is an American actor, author, academic lecturer, and former White House staff member in the Barack Obama administration. As an actor, he is known for his role portrayin ...

Melissa Leo Melissa Chessington Leo (born September 14, 1960) is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and two Critics' Choice Awa ...

, and

Radhika Apte Radhika Apte (born 7 September 1985) is an Indian actress. She works predominantly in Hindi films, and has appeared in a few Tamil, Marathi, Telugu, Bengali, and English-language films. She began acting in theatre and made her film debut with a ...

. In 2019, he directed ''Watch List (Maria)'' in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...

, a crime thriller set in the drug underworld during the time of

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945), also known as Digong, Rody, and by the initials DU30 and PRRD, is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the chairperson ...

extrajudicial killings An extrajudicial killing (also known as extrajudicial execution or extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, whethe ...

. The film was nominated for a Jury Prize at the

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rekhi, Ben American directors American producers American screenwriters 1979 births Living people Tisch School of the Arts alumni American film directors of Indian descent American people of Indian descent American writers of Indian descent