MentorTalks: How to Build a Documentary Filming Career With Your Head and Your Heart
Munmun Dhalaria, award-winning documentary filmmaker, National Geographic Storytelling Explorer, and Youth Exchange and Study Program (YES) Exchange Alumni, joined MentorTalks in September on Instagram Live to discuss her career in filmmaking, her interest in the intersection of wildlife conservation, sex, and science communications, and lessons learned from her international exchange that she brought home with her to India.
Munmun shared about the role of film to drive climate action and awareness, plus tips for pursuing a career path in filmmaking – including how to get past challenges of starting out in the field, how to find funding, and how to succeed in an attention economy.
“I learned a lot by doing,” she said. “One small thing led to something else.”
Tune in now to hear Munmun’s career tips, and to find out how you can follow both your head and your heart when it comes to making a career decision.
Speaker Bio:
Munmun Dhalaria is the Director of Moon Peak Films in India and has been a National Geographic Storytelling Explorer since 2017. Over the past 12 years, she has independently produced over 20 short award-winning documentaries on the topics of human rights, climate change, sex equity and wildlife conservation. She has a rare ability of understanding how to balance the ethics of respecting characters and their personal narratives while creatively crafting stories in an exciting way for global audiences.
She directs, does camerawork, scripts and edits documentaries, in high pressure, demanding situations for broadcasters like Disney Hotstar. From Ladakh to the Shetland Island, she has worked in some of the remotest places on the planet, while delivering high quality documentaries for broadcast.
In 2019, she worked on a wildlife conservation TV show titled ‘On the Brink’ Season 2 as an Assistant Director and Cinematographer. The episodes showcase diverse endangered species and habitats in India, and were published on into Disney+. This series has won two National Awards in India so far.
Dhalaria has also been an independent Producer/ Director for online channels like Vice News and Al Jazeera. She has recently filmed topical stories ranging from climate change in the upper Himalayas to the Opioid crisis in north India. In 2022, she worked as an Assistant Producer at Wildstar Films in the UK, working extensively in Development and on 3 ongoing Disney productions, 2 of which have already won Emmy Awards. She's currently producing a short film about perinatal mental health in Rajasthan, India.