Warangal-based Acharya Venu is the first Indian cinematographer to win the best cinematographer award in the Asian New Talent category at the Shanghai Film Festival.
The 34-year-old won the title for the film, Ma.Ama, which was shot entirely in the Garo language. The 120-minute-long independent feature film was shot in Meghalaya with a budget of Rs 8 lakh.
The Shanghai Film Festival is one of Asia’s largest film festivals and China’s only competitive film festival approved by the International Federation of Film Producers’ Associations. Venu competed with 15 other nominations from around the world.
He is a graduate of Fine Arts at the Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture and Fine Arts University (JNAFAU). He also worked as a second unit cinematographer for the recent Telugu film, Jersey.