^{Emerging Filmmaker Residency Program}ROUGH CUT to REAL CONVERSATION.

PURPOSE

Supporting filmmakers as they develop new work in collaboration.

In partnership with Sher Pride and the Sundar Prize Film Festival, KDocsFF established a residency program in 2024 to embed a local, emerging filmmaker in the KPU community. Following their awarding at the Sundar Prize Film Festival, the winner takes up their four-month residency at KPU’s Surrey campus based out of the KDocsFF Social Justice Lab. There, the filmmaker works on a film project in development, collaborates with KPU film studies faculty, and offers special screenings of their films for students, faculty, and staff. The residency also includes a series of consultations with producer Sean Farnel, who mentors the filmmaker through post-production, marketing, and promotion of their film. As a capstone to the residency, KDocsFF hosts a keynote, screening, and panel discussion centered on the rough cut of the filmmaker’s latest production.

^{OUR RESIDENCIES} Past Residencies

KDocsFF welcomed Surrey-based writer/director Shanthini Balasubramanian to KPU following 2025’s Sundar Prize Film Festival where she took home the KDocsFF Emerging Filmmaker Residency Award. Her winning film Velvet Secrets, the story of a Tamil mother who tries on her daughter’s red velvet dress which sparks a journey of self-exploration, was screened as part of the Sundar Prize’s “Redefining Her Story” block held at the Landmark Cinemas Guildford. Shanthini then joined a panel of directors to discuss Velvet Secrets and why older BIPOC women are rarely the main character. From May to September of 2025, Shanthini joined the KPU community to work on several film projects and visit classes as a guest speaker. She spoke about Velvet Secrets and screenwriting with Greg Chan’s film studies students. As a capstone event, KDocsFF hosted a special screening and panel discussion of Velvet Secrets in August 2025.

Our inaugural filmmaker in residence, director/writer/producer Shubham Chhabra, came to KPU after winning the KDocsFF Emerging Filmmaker Residency Award at 2024’s Sundar Prize Film Festival held at Surrey City Hall. Shubham sat on “The Resilience of Creative Expression” panel to discuss his short film about the exploitation of international students, Cash Cows, before KDocsFF Community Outreach Director Greg Chan presented him with the residency award at the Sundar Prize’s closing ceremony. Shubham’s summer residency at KPU had him working with film studies faculty and consulting with producer Sean Farnel on a work in progress, which he screened for a KPU test audience as a capstone event in the fall. Good Enough, his follow-up documentary about international students in BC, went on to be produced by Honeywagon Media in 2025.