Beena Paul
Beena Paul (born January 28, 1961), also known by her married name Beena Paul Venugopal, is an Indian film editor who works mainly in Malayalam-language films. A graduate of the University of Delhi, she completed a course on film editing from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, in 1983. She is the recipient of two National Film Awards and three Kerala State Film Awards. She has held several positions including the artistic director of International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) and the vice chairperson of Kerala State Chalachitra Academy. Personal life. She is married  to cinematographer Venu since 26 August 1983.The couple has a daughter Malavika who is married to an Englishman, is an Outreach Programme Manager at Cambridge University. Biography. Early life. Born to a Malayali father and a Kannadiga mother, Beena Paul was brought up in Delhi. After graduating from the University of Delhi in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in psychology, she went on to pursue a diploma in film editing from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, in 1983. Career. Paul got a break as an editor with G. Aravindan's "The Seer Who Walks Alone  (1985), a documentary on Jiddu Krishnamurti. She went on to work in a few documentaries including Rajiv Vijay Raghavan's Sister Alphonsa of Bharananganam" (1986), which won the Best Biographical Film at the 34th National Film Awards. She made her feature film debut with John Abraham's "Amma Ariyan" (1986). Her other films include "Padippura" (1989), "Janmadinam" (1997), "Agnisakshi" (1999). Her work in Revathi's "Mitr, My Friend" (2002), which had an all-woman crew, won her her first National Film Award. The following year, she was awarded another National Film Award for the non-feature film "Unni". She has  also worked in television and has been the recipient of three Kerala State Award for Best Editor – Television. Her latest film, "Sometimes", is awaiting theatrical release. Apart from editing over 50 documentaries and feature films, Paul has directed four documentaries. She has collaborated with women filmmakers like Revathi, Suma Josson, Pamela Rooks and Shabnam Virmani. Paul played a prominent role in shaping up the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) right from its inception and also served as its artistic director. She also served as the deputy director of Kerala State Chalachitra Academy and worked as a senior editor at  the Centre for Development of Imaging Technology. As of 2017, she serves as the principal of the L. V. Prasad Film Academy (Thiruvananthapuram campus). In May 2017, she was appointed as one of the heads of "Women Collective in Cinema", India's first association that aims to work towards equal opportunity and dignity of women employees in film industry. Personal life. Paul married cinematographer Venu, a fellow student at the FTII, in 1983; the couple has a daughter. The two have worked together in several films including "Daya" (1998), "Munnariyippu" (2014) and "Carbon"(2018), all directed by Venu. Beena Paul Beena