Nandita Das is known to world audiences for her critically acclaimed performances as an actor in films like Fire, Earth, Bawander, and many other films. She has acted in over 30 feature films, in ten different languages, and has also made her directorial debut with the feature film Firaaq. Nandita has attracted the attention of artists, critics and film lovers across the globe and has won numerous awards, both as an actor and a director. She has believed in the role of cinema as a powerful instrument for social change and her choices bear witness to that.

Nandita’s passion and commitment comes from her background in Human Rights. Apart from working on issues of gender, violence and AIDS, she has worked on children’s education and child labour. She did her Masters in Social Work from the University of Delhi and worked with various NGOs and continues to advocate issues of social justice.

She also has had the honour of being a member of the main jury at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in 2005 and at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2007. Recently she was conferred the prestigious award by the French Government, Chavalier des Arts et des Lettres.

During her 3 year tenure as the Chairperson of CFSI, she wants to further its vision of producing and distributing high quality films for children. And make it purposeful enough to attract innovative ideas by creative minds from the field of films, writing and animation.