Tinge Krishnan

Following an early career in medicine, Tinge Krishnan made the decision in 1994 to take a postgraduate in film from New York University.  Tinge’s company, Disruptive Element Films, was set up in 1995. Graduating from NYU in 1996, she was selected in 1999 as one of four directors to write and direct a three minute piece RANDOM NIGHTS, shot in a day, to celebrate the launch of the FilmFour Lab at the 1999 Edinburgh Film Festival.   Her first film, GROOVE ON A STANLEY KNIFE (40 mins) was part-funded by YMPA and won several awards and international critical acclaim.  Since then, Tinge has written and directed several shorts, including SHADOWSCAN in 2000, which won awards from both BAFTA and the Raindance Film Festival.  Her most recent short, HONEY AND RAZORBLADES, is currently in post-production.  Set in Thailand, it stars acclaimed actress Shobna Gulati.   Her film FIRST has recently been in competition in Edinburgh.

What training have you received?

A New York University short course in film- in 10 weeks we created 5 shorts, which were all shot on film.

What themes do you like to explore in your work?

Love and redemption.

What’s the best advice you’ve been given as a writer?

It’s not how hard you can hit – it’s how many punches you can take.

Most significant moment in your career so far

Being in Phuket when the tsunami hit. I was given an ultimatum by a well-known producer to drop the voluntary work I was doing.  I chose to continue with the aid work and got dropped from the project. That moment has created a creative fearlessness in my subsequent work and the tsunami experience has clarified my themes of love and redemption. It taught me to let death be my advisor, so before I make any decision I approach it with the knowledge that the end is potentially round the corner.

Getting pregnant was significant because it kick-started a huge creative spurt which involved me directing a short (currently in competition in Edinburgh) about kids at 37 weeks gestation!
Also meeting my new producer Jolyon Rubinstein who has really helped to kick-start the next phase of my career.

You’ll die happy when…

I die.  Unless I’m in a strop in which case I’ll die in a strop and that’ll be my fault for being stroppy!!