KOLKATA: Kolkata-based filmmaker Sriyanka Ray was posthumously awarded independent Emmy as a director and producer for her short documentary ‘Homeroom Dreams’. The film won the award in the category ‘education/school – short or long form content’. Ray was 33 and passed away from a sudden illness on May 30, 2023, while holidaying in Bolivia.
“The film exposes how New York, despite its status as a thriving metropolis, grapples with a monumental housing problem for people living below the poverty line,” her sister, Sanjana, told TOI. “It is her 13th Emmy nomination, first independent win as director and producer and second as producer. It is such a joyous moment. Our daughter should have been there to receive this award,” said mother Ishita Ray.
An alumna of La Martiniere for Girls and Presidency University, Ray studied film studies at Jadavpur University for a year before shifting to New York in 2012, where she did a master’s programme. She joined BRIC, an arts and media institution anchored in downtown Brooklyn, in 2014.
Thrilled with the award, National Award-winning filmmaker Farha Khatun, said, “Sriyanka was a tremendous force in bridging Indian filmmakers with the West.”