Rohan Parashuram Kanawade is a self-made filmmaker who was raised in a Mumbai slum by a chauffeur father and a homemaker mother. After he transitioned from interior design to filmmaking, Rohan made short films that screened globally.
His debut feature, Cactus Pears (Sabar Bonda) (2025), was developed at the Venice Biennale College Cinema 2022-2023, and participated in platforms such as Film Bazaar, Venice Gap Financing Market, and Goes to Cannes. His short films include U for Usha (U Ushacha), Window (Khidkee), Beautiful (Sundar), and Lonely Walls (Ektya Bhinti).
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and present. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.
