Fowzia Fathima

Fowzia Fathima Biography

Fowzia Fathima is a female cinematographer from Indian film industry, one of the rarest among female artists and technicians with a camera in hand. She predominantly works in south Indian film industry, and some of her major works include - Mitr, My Friend (2002), Gulumaal: The Escape (2009) and Uyir (2006). She studied from Film and Television Institute of India, and has directed a few short films during her early days in cine world. She is a part of “Indian Women Cinematographers Collective”, founded in 2017. She regularly conducts workshops at different cities, and also teaches aspiring students.

Fowzia Fathima was born on 24 January 1972 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. She obtained flying license as an NCC cadet (1990-1992) from Madras Flying Club, Chennai and later completed her graduation and master’s degree. After that she enrolled at prestigious FTII Pune to complete Diploma in Cinematography in 1996 and passed out in 2008 with first class, A-grade. A brilliant student in academics, she also received first rank in her master’s degree in art criticism from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in 1995.

As a cinematographer, she started her career as an assistant to the ace artist P.C. Sreeram in the late 1990s. As an independent cinematographer, she marked her debut with national award winning film, Mitr, My Friend starring Shobana. Almost all crew members of the film were females, including the debut film director Revathy. Shobana earned her second National award for best actress for this film. Fowzia is also the first ever independent woman cinematographer in Malayalam cinema. Her short film Aggedu Nayyega bagged Kerala state Television Award for best Cinematography. She worked with Johnny Lall for one Bollywood film, Kucch To Hai.

Published: December 04, 2018

Updated: December 04, 2018