Rangoli Agarwal is an independent cinematographer based between Mumbai and Allahabad, her hometown. She has worked on various projects, ranging from feature films, documentaries, advertising and award-winning short films. Her latest short film as director of photography, My Mother’s Girlfriend, won the Best Short Fiction award at IDSFFK.

Since her school days, she loved writing stories. Her first exposure to world cinema was in ‘Literature in Film’ class at McKinleyville High, California. During her college years, she initiated a film society at St. Xavier’s Mumbai, which served as a formative experience in understanding how sound and image work. It is also what led her to study cinematography at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune where she learnt how to function in a multi-cultural setup. Her training in shooting with film gave her a disciplined approach and technical precision which gives her an edge in the digital realm as well. 

She has taken her learning into the filmmaking process for clients such as Chambal Media, Channel News Asia, Deutsche Welle, Disney Channel, Lotus Visual Productions, Vice; or in screening at venues such as Inside Out Toronto Film Festival, Tampere Film Festival, IDSFFK, BFI Flare, Bogota Short Film Festival to name a few.

She is a lover of travel and language, which enables keen communication amongst all crew members, and has served well in shooting throughout India and across countries. 

She is also an active member of the Indian Women’s Cinematographer’s Combine and takes effort to imbue meaningful contexts to the images she creates.