"Junoon" is an Urdu word for obsession. "Junoon Pictures" was founded by Alka Raghuram, a filmmaker and a multidisciplinary artist who is obsessed with stories. Her feature documentary, Burqa Boxers, about Muslim women boxers in Kolkata India was developed with the support of ITVS’ Diversity Development Fund, and produced with funding from CNC, France, and Vision Sud Est., Switzerland. It was awarded the top prize Grant Open Doors at the Locarno Film Festival co-production market in 2011.

 

In 2012 Alka created a photo, video and art installation based on the project at the Locarno Film Festival. 

In September 2014, she collaborated with dancers Pandit Chitresh Das (Indian, Kathak) and Antonio Hidalgo Paz (Flamenco) to create video vignettes for their performance Yatra (Journey) comprising of poetry, photography, painting and calligraphy about the historical connection between the two dance forms. The performance premiered at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.

 

Her fiction project “The Conqueror” was invited to Berlin Talent Project Market and Tribeca All Access, where Alka was awarded the L’Oreal Woman of Worth Vision Filmmaker Award. Her short films Tired of Dancing, Panchali and The Ant and The Monkey have screened at various festivals in the US and abroad. Panchali received the John Gutman award for innovation in cinema and was a regional finalist in the Student Academy Awards (2004). The Ant and The Monkey was nominated for the Princess Grace Award in 2005. Her paintings have been exhibited in galleries and Museums in New York.

She currently works as a creative writer for the Google Assistant Personality.

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