Human’s often think about perspective and imagination. While these two things combine, the art form of storytelling takes birth. The chattiness in the film industry continues with the release of blockbuster these years. A person who has dominated the the last two year as young gun is Shahan Rao. Shahan has ben named the Director of Photography extraordinaire by many and since have gained recognition around the world and the film circuit.
Shahan’s is contributing to the contemporary cinema by shaping its visual language. Documentary filming has been his background and now he is shaping the narrative features using that authenticity. From the most recent work on the project Generation Wells, Nebuchadnezzar, Strong Black Women and 40 Days, the the visual intricacies is beyond imagination.
Shahan has a sense of rapid ascent, its more then a technical skill, it is built through a structure of emotional intelligence. The year 2025, Shahan’s film have been part of the most prestigious festivals in the world. Including the LA shorts, Swedish International Film Festival, Culver City Film Festival and many more for his work on Generation wells. LA shorts is an Oscar qualifying festival. While 40 Days had a two week theatrical release around United States. 40 Days was later selected into CIFF, Mesa International and spotlighted at the Festival of Cinema in NYC. People around the circuit were amazed by how well the visuals of the projects were formulated.
His work of Nebuchadnezzar screened at the Canadian Academy Qualifying Festival YFF.
The kind of project Rao does are extremely character driven stories which have intimacy. Shahan excels in photographing these intimate emotions with extravagant array of movements with in frame. Some of these shirts are technically impossible, while his leadership is something which makes these shots possible. People have often talked that on set he is the most passionate person with a calm personality. Precision of composition, lighting and team leading makes these things possible.
What makes is exceptional is a combination of collaboration, thinking, visualization and execution. In an early screening of Strong Black Women, Shahan stated “ I like to work with the same crew who have been part of my older films, cause now they are more like a family. When you are creating something so grand you want the base to be strong. And those people are my base.” This shows the level of commitment these films take, and the leadership that he has proving that this generation of filmmakers can tell stories in an extraordinary landscape. Shahan was shortlisted in the gold rising program by the Academy to highlight future artist who are shaping the current form of cinema.
This year at the Yorktown Film Festival(the oldest film festival is Northern America), Director Samuel Ogenremi stated in the press interview that Shahan’s visualization and contribution for the project Nebuchadnezzar was irreplaceable. The way he figures out complexity in scripts and translate to his camera is just a joy to watch.
What’s Next?
Rao has signed a two film contract with Media Ave Studios for their future comedy films which are under development at the moment. Media Ave studios has worked with Shahan on 40 days and Falafel. So it looks like it will be long term collaboration. More recently the director of 1780, The Kevin spacey comeback film, Dustin Fairbanks have welcomed Shahan to join his on his new Science fiction film which will be short in the States and Europe.
More so he is talk with C&I Studios and KAZM Global, which are two production companies based in Los Angeles to Join them in their upcoming project. This is just a view of how this talented young soul is being embraced because of his Talent. He is definitely once in a decade artist who has strong hold over his talent and the film intellect that these companies hold.
Shahan’s future looks not only fruitful but his contribution to the film industry is even more grand. While the industry is filled which strong technical people, he is someone to have that voice of creativity too. A true leader, collaborator and an artist who can create films in different genres and bring cultures together based on Humanity.
