Quick Facts
Biography
Hemal Trivedi is an Indian documentary film director, editor and producer. She is best known for her work on the documentaries Shabeena's Quest, and Among the Believers.
Life and career
Hemal was born and raised in Maharashtra, India. She holds an MBA in Marketing from SVKM's NMIMS and an MFA from the University of Florida.
In 2015, Hemal co-directed the feature documentary, Among the Believers, along with Mohammed Ali Naqvi, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. The Central Board of Film Censors (CFBC) banned, Among the Believers, from being screened in Pakistan, giving the reason that it "projects the negative image of Pakistan in the context of ongoing fight against extremism terrorism." Both Hemal and co-director Mohammed Ali Naqvi received death threats after the release of the film, forcing them to go into hiding for a period of time. In 2020, Hemal directed, Battleground, about current political divide, as seen through the eyes of two grassroots political leaders in the key pivot county of Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, and aired nationally on PBS.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Director | Editor | Producer | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Tell Me a Story |  Y | Y | Y | Documentary short |
| 2008 | Flying on One Engine | Y | Documentary | ||
| 2010 | Beyond Mumbai: Hope and Healing | Y | Y | Y | Documentary short |
| 2011 | When the Drum Is Beating | Y | Documentary | ||
| 2011 | Voices of Sudan | Y | Documentary short | ||
| 2012 | Saving Face | Y | Documentary short | ||
| 2012 | Shabeena's Quest | Y | Y | Y | Documentary short |
| 2013 | Outlawed in Pakistan | Y | Documentary short | ||
| 2015 | Among the Believers | Y | Y | Y | Documentary |
| 2017 | This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous | Y | Documentary | ||
| 2017 | My Big Bollywood Wedding | Y | Y | Y | TV show |
| 2017 | Insha'Allah Democracy | Y | Documentary | ||
| 2018 | Watergate: Or how we learned to control an out of control president | Y | Documentary series | ||
| 2020 | Battleground | Y | Y | Y | Documentary |
| 2021 | Philly DA | Y | Documentary Series |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Result | Award | Category | Work | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Won | Emmy Award | Outstanding Editing: Documentary and Long Form | Saving Face | |
| 2015 | Nominated | Asia Pacific Screen Awards | Best Documentary | Among the Believers | |
| Won | Chagrin Documentary Film Festival | David Ponce Award for Best Film | |||
| 2016 | Won | Beloit International Film Festival | Power of Film Award | ||
| Won | Documentary Edge Festival | Best International Feature Director | |||
| Won | FIFDH | Grand Prix | |||
| 2017 | Nominated | News & Documentary Emmy Award | Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary | ||
| Nominated | Cinema Eye Honors | Spotlight Award |