# Siddharth Katragadda

Siddharth (Sid) Katragadda is an Indian American artist, writer, filmmaker, poet and engineer.

## Early life

He was born in Bangalore, India in 1972 and moved to the United States for his Master's degree in computer sciences from the University of Texas at Arlington.

## Painting

Katragadda has been passionate about painting since childhood and began exhibiting and selling his art in 2008.[. His paintings often feature Indian women painted in an abstract style.He has been listed among India's top Abtract Expressionist Artists
In 2022, he painted a series of 12 Western paintings in what he calls Holeism style, based on various humanitarian issues. He also returned to his abstract Indian women, creating the first of his Timism style paintings.

### Exhibitions

* 21 February 2008. Solo exhibition, Chitrakala Parishad, Bangalore.
* 2 – 6 December 2013. Group exhibition, Renaissance Gallerie, Bangalore.
* 2023. Online exhibition, "Sita", Saatchi Art
* 2023. Online exhibition, "I Can't Breathe", Culturally Arts.
* 8 – 12 May 2024. Solo exhibition, "Monsoon Maidens", Chitrakala Parishad, Bangalore.
* 2024. Group exhibition, "Interiority", Culturally Arts.

## Films

Katragadda's short documentary "B.L.I.N.D – Born to Live in Near Darkness?" had its theatrical release at the Los Feliz 3 Theater, Los Angeles, from Sept 24–30th 2021. The film was an official entry to the 94th Academy Awards in the Documentary Short-Subject Category. Hi second documentary, The Godsend was screened at the 14th Chicago South Asian Film Festival His short film "Varanasi" won the Best Foreign Film Award at the Atlantic City CineFest, New Jersey, 2013. His screenplay "Painless" (aka The Mercy Machine) was a quarter finalist at the PAGE International Screenwriting Awards, 2016, the Screencraft Drama Contest 2017, the WeScreenplay Screenplay Awards His short documentary "The Indus Code" was shortlisted for the 6th International Documentary and Short Film Festival, Kerala. His Screenplay pitches won Honorable Mention/Finalist awards at the 2021 ISA Virtual Pitch Challenge.

### Filmography

| Year | Film | Genre | Awards | Credited as | Credited as | Credited as |
| Year | Film | Genre | Awards | Director | Producer | Screenwriter |
| 2012 | The Girl Upstairs | Feature Film | Released on Amazon Prime | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2013 | Varanasi | Short Film | Best Foreign Film, Downbeach Film Festival, New Jersey | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2023 | City of Lights | Short Film | Official Selection, Amsterdam Lift-off Film Festival 2023 Official Selection, San Diego Independent Filmmaker’s Festival Honorable Mention, Kuumba Film Festival,2023 Official Selection – Kerala Short Film Festival, Munnar | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2020 | B.L.I.N.D : Born to Live in Near Darkness | Documentary Short | Semifinalist, Flickers Rhode Island Intl. Film Festival 2020, 2021, Outstanding Documentary Award, Hollywood Golden Film Awards, 2020, Gold Award, International Independent Film Awards, 2020, Best Documentary Short, Zero Degree Film Contest, 2020, Grand Prize Award-Documentary, Cannes International Independent Film Festival, 2020, Finalist, India International Film Festival Boston, 2020, Finalist, Bengaluru Shorts Intl. Film Festival, Best Documentary/Outstanding Achievement (Direction), Sand Dance International Film Festival, Special Mention, 11th DadaSaheb Phalke Film Festival, Outstanding Achievement Award, Tagore International Film Festival, Official Selection, Kolkata Shorts International Film Festival-20, Official Selection, 16 International Film Festivals by JIFF, Kaaryat International Film Festival of India, Jaipur | Yes | No | Yes |
| 2020 | Being Human | Short Film | Best Documentary Award – FLICKFAIR, LA, 2021 FROSTBITE International Indie Fest, DMOFF, LA, Standalone Film Festival & Awards, LA AI International Film Festival (April 21 – 23, 2023 at the Redstone Theater in Park City, Utah) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2023 | The Godsend | Short Film | Official Selection – Chicago South Asian Film Festival, 2023 Official Selection – Kerala Short Film Festival, Munnar, 2023 Honorable Mention – Indian Independent Film Festival, 2023 | Yes | Yes | Yes |

## Writing

His first novel, "Metamorphosis" won Runners-up Prize at the 2021 Red Hen Press Fiction Award/ Los Angeles Review. His first Novel in Verse, Dark Rooms won an award at the San Diego Book Prize, 2002 (Poetry). A sequel, The Other Wife also won the same award in 2003.
Numerous articles written by him have been published on CNN. His work has appeared in Taint Taint Taint,Grey Sparrow Press (best new literary journal 2011), New Plains Review – Fall 2018 Issue, Chaffey Review, A Generation Defining Itself, Carter Street Review, Wilderness Review and numerous literary journals. His work has been reviewed in the journals like "One India." He also writes on Cricket topics. He's also an avid quotist with numerous published quotes, including the famous "The greatness of a culture can be found in its festivals.

### Books

| Year | Book | Genre | Awards |
| 2002 | Dark Rooms | poetry | Runners-up San Diego Book Awards |
| 2003 | The Other Wife | poetry | Runners-up San Diego Book Awards |
| 2022 | Metamorphosis | Novel | Runners-up – Red Hen Fiction Award |

## Podcasts

Sid was interviewed on the reputed podcast Immigrantly Podcast for the Dec 24th, 2023 episode.

## Plays

An emerging playwright, his play "Tsunami" was produced by Firecracker Production, Houston, and was nominated for five Awards at the 2021 Broadway World Houston. Tsunami also was won the "Your Worst Nightmare Short Play Festival" in San Francisco. His short play Power Outage will be produced at the 11th Towne Street Theatre's Annual Ten-Minute Play Festival – at the Stella Adler Theatre, Hollywood April 4–26, 2020.

### Theatre productions

| Year | Play | Production |
| 2020 | The Power Outage | Stella Adler Theatre, Hollywood 11th-annual-10-min-play-festival |
| 2020 | Tsunami | Shelton Theater in San Francisco, Your Worst Nightmare Short Play Festival |
| 2021 | Tsunami | Firecracker Productions, Houston |