From Dampur to the World Stage: Naaz Shaikh’s Inspiring Leap to Venice Fame

Dampur: In the quiet village of Dampur, in Assam’s Kamrup district, the idea of a woman becoming a filmmaker . Naaz Shaikh dared to imagine a life far beyond her village’s narrow lanes and unspoken restrictions. This September, she walked the red carpet at the 82nd Venice Film Festival, becoming the first woman from her village and possibly the district

Naaz grew up in a conservative Muslim household, where expectations were clear and opportunities were limited. “Education was allowed, but only up to a point. Girls weren’t meant to be seen or heard too much,” she recalls. “But inside me, there was always a voice telling stories. I just didn’t know yet that it was called ‘filmmaking’.”

With no connections in the film industry and no access to film schools, Naaz’s first ‘set’ was her backyard, and her first camera was a second-hand smartphone. She wrote, directed, and acted in her own stories often shooting solo or convincing younger cousins to help. Her first few videos were uploaded quietly to social media platforms, and slowly but surely, people began to notice.

Her breakthrough came with “Silent Waters,” a haunting short film about a girl silenced by tradition, navigating identity and resistance. The film was raw, honest, and deeply personal shot on a shoestring budget but filled with emotional power. It was selected for screening at several grassroots film festivals in India and eventually caught the attention of curators from international platforms.

In 2025, Silent Waters was chosen as an official selection at the Venice Film Festival, under the “Short Takes” program, a category that celebrates emerging voices from around the world.

Naaz was flown to Venice as a guest of the festival, her trip sponsored by a global arts NGO. “It was my first time leaving India,” she says. “I was nervous, but when I stepped onto that red carpet, I didn’t feel small. I felt like every struggle, every ‘no’, every tear was worth it.”

Behind the scenes, her journey has been anything but glamorous. Family pushback, community gossip, financial strain, and self-doubt were constant. “I was called everything from disgraceful to delusional,” she admits. “But I also received anonymous messages from girls in my village saying, ‘You’ve made us believe it’s possible.’ That kept me going.”

Naaz attributes her growth to online platforms and mentorships. “There are people out there, strangers who believe in raw talent. I found free screenwriting courses, women’s film fellowships, and virtual mentors who guided me,” she says.

Today, Naaz is determined to give back. She’s launching a grassroots initiative called “FrameHer”, aimed at training young women in rural Assam to use mobile filmmaking to tell their stories. “Cinema is not just about fame. It’s about voice. For too long, girls from places like Dampur have been invisible. That changes now.”

As she returns to India, she plans to split her time between Mumbai and Assam, working on her first feature-length screenplay while building her film collective from the ground up.