Film for All
Filmmaking and digital media training for villages and government schools in India, run with a local partner already on the ground.
- With an Indian NGO partner
- Media partners for screenings
A filmmaking nonprofit · Los Angeles & India
Darpan
Film should be a mirror anyone can hold up. We give people the skills, tools and screens to tell their own stories.
Mission
We believe the next great stories will come from people who have never held a camera.
Darpan runs workshops, screenings, school programs and micro-grants for people who are usually left out of filmmaking. It is founded by working filmmakers and funded through donations, grants and partners.
Starting with
Flagship program
Film for All
Filmmaking and digital media training for villages and government schools in India.
Run with local partners already on the ground, Film for All puts cameras, editing skills and a screen in the hands of young people who have never been asked to tell their own stories, and brings their films back to their communities.
Partner organizations
Organizations we partner with, mainly on community outreach, to bring filmmaking to more communities.
Samvad Media Pvt Ltd
Suhrit Foundation
Akshara Vanam Foundation
Programs
Tools, training,
and a screen
Film for All leads, with six more programs rolled out in stages so each one is done properly before the next begins.
● Now · first 3 months
● Next · 3–6 months
● Later · 6–12 months
Workshops
Free filmmaking workshops in LA libraries and museums: writing, shooting and editing a short in a few sessions.
- Phones and member gear provided
- Ends in a group screening
Impact screenings
Our members' films screened with community groups whose work they touch, followed by a conversation.
- Films paired with partner organizations
- Q&A with the filmmakers
Schools & colleges
Guest workshops in community college film departments, after-school programs and youth centers.
- Starting with community colleges
- District programs later
Gear access
A free lending pool of cameras, lights and sound kits from our members, for first-time filmmakers.
- Starts with members' own gear
- Grows into production support
Micro-grants
Small grants to help new filmmakers finish a first short.
- Amount and round size to be announced
- Mentorship from a member alongside
Online home
A place to watch participants' films, find free lessons and resources, and apply to programs from anywhere.
About
Why a
mirror
Most people see themselves on screen through someone else's camera. Darpan exists so more people can make that image themselves.
Founders
Co-founder
Harsh Vardhan Singh
Director with a UCLA MFA in Film Directing. A former science researcher, he makes social-realist films grounded in fieldwork, including Watchdog and The Golden Bird.
Co-founder
Akhil Koppisetti
Director of Use-Case, Capsules, An Inch of Space and Royal Jelly.
How it's funded
01
Supporters give
Donations from individuals and filmmakers who believe in the work.
02
Partners join in
Grants, in-kind gear and spaces from foundations, brands and institutions.
03
Darpan runs programs
Workshops, screenings, gear and grants, free to participants.
04
New voices emerge
Alumni become crew, collaborators and audiences, and the loop starts again.
What we stand for
Access first
Programs are free to participants. Cost should never decide who gets to tell a story.
Your story, your way
We teach craft, not taste. Participants decide what their films are about.
Here and there
We start in Los Angeles and build toward India, where several of us come from and where much of our work is set.
Get involved
Hold the
mirror with us
Darpan grows through the people and places that open their doors to it.
Host a workshop
Libraries, museums, schools and community centers: give us a room and an audience, and we bring the teachers and the gear.
Teach or volunteer
Filmmakers, editors and sound people can lead a session, mentor a grantee or lend equipment.
Support the work
Donations, grants and in-kind equipment fund programs that stay free for participants.
Write to us: info@darpanstudios.com
Donation details coming soon.
Partner organizations
Organizations we partner with, mainly on community outreach.
Samvad Media Pvt Ltd
Suhrit Foundation
Akshara Vanam Foundation