Biju Viswanath is an Indian

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

director of photography The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

film editor Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film stock, film which increasingly involves the use Digital cinema, of digital ...

and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

. Across various genres, he has made numerous films in different languages, notably, English, Tamil, Malayalam, Irish, Swahili and Urdu. He has also served as the jury member 50th National film Awards of India in 2003 and Kerala State Awards in 2003

Career

Viswanath's directorial debut ''A Voyage'' is based on the works of Indian writer

M. T. Vasudevan Nair Madath Thekkepaattu Vasudevan Narayanan Nair (15 July 1933 – 25 December 2024) was an Indian author, lecturer, Screenwriter, screenplay writer and film director. He was a prolific and versatile writer in modern Malayalam literature, and was o ...

, which was produced by veteran Malayalam screenwriter

John Paul Puthusery John Paul (29 October 1950 – 23 April 2022) was an Indian scriptwriter, producer, author, and actor who worked in Malayalam cinema. He was best known for his work in the 1980s and early 1990s. Early life John Paul was born on 29 October 195 ...

. The movie premiered in

Busan International Film Festival The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF; ), formerly the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), held annually in Haeundae District, Busan, South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festival, held fro ...

, and won the gold medal for Best Short Film in India as well as an Honourable Mention in

Zanzibar International Film Festival Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF), also known as Festival of the Dhow Countries, is an annual film festival held in Zanzibar, Tanzania and one of the largest cultural events in East Africa. ZIFF is a non-governmental organization establis ...

. His Urdu film ''Parwaaz'' (The Flight) won Special Prize in Patras Film Festival. His English feature film ''

Déjà vu ''Déjà vu'' ( , ; "already seen") is the phenomenon of feeling like one has lived through the present situation in the past.Schnider, Armin. (2008). ''The Confabulating Mind: How the Brain Creates Reality''. Oxford University Press. pp. 167–1 ...

'', which was produced by editor A. Sreekar Prasad, featuring various British actors, had its international premiere at Busan International Film Festival in 2001 and at the 54th

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

. Another feature film of his,''Viola,'' won Golden palm in the Mexico International Film festival.Mexico International Film Festival and Awards
Retrieved 2017-12-30. Viswanath made three Irish films based on the works on the poet writer Celia de Fréine. His first American feature film ''Marathon'' is based on the true story of American poet William Morris Meredith, Jr. Viswanath won two awards for the film: Best Cinematography and Best Screenplay in New York Independent Film Festival. Viswanath's venture in Swahili is ''Shadow Tree,'' a film which was shot in

Zanzibar, Tanzania Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...

. The film won the Special Award in Skepto Film Festival in Italy. His Indian Tamil-language feature film '' Orange Mittai'' was co-written and produced by

Vijay Sethupathi Vijaya Gurunatha Sethupathi Kalimuthu (born 16 January 1978) is an Indian actor and film producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, Tamil films. Sethupathi is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Film Awards, National F ...

. Another Tamil drama film '' Chennai Palani Mars'' won two awards in USA: Grand Jury prize at the Los Angeles Motion Picture Film Festival and the Best Narrative Feature at the Pinnacle Film Awards.

Filmography

Feature films

Short films

Television

Awards

* 2009: Best Cinematography at New York City International Film Festival: ''Marathon'' * 2011: Golden Palm Award at Mexico International Film Festival: ''Viola'' * 2014: SIGNIS Award for Best Short Film at

and Avant-guarde & Experimental Special Award at Skepto Film Festival: ''Shadow Tree'' * 2019: Gold Award for Best Feature Film at Pinnacle Film Awards: ''Chennai Palani Mars'' * 2022: Best of Show and Best Feature Documentary at Pinnacle Film Awards: ''How to make F**ked Up Movies''

References

External links

* * * https://www.deccanchronicle.com/150802/entertainment-mollywood/article/i-don%E2%80%99t-make-films-film-festivals-biju-viswanath * https://www.nowrunning.com/news/malayalam/raghuvaran-could-have-become-an-international-star-biju-viswanath/14518/story.htm * https://www.theindiapost.com/nation/chandigarh/popularizing-literature-cinema-biju-viswanath/ * https://www.hindustantimes.com/chandigarh/cinema-in-write-direction/story-0z6qITdR25mqYM6v3G9AOO.html * https://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-director/biju-viswanath/orange-mittai-director-biju-viswanaths-interview-on-the-film-vijay-sethupathi-and-many-more.html * https://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130303/ttlife1.htm#2 {{DEFAULTSORT:Viswanath, Biju English-language film directors Living people Malayalam film directors Malayalam film cinematographers Indian male screenwriters Year of birth missing (living people)