ritesh m

"Guarding other sheep in other valleys."

Life, in the third person, in third places
Zindagi kahi aur hai

PhD @USCAnnenberg

Industryfacing @mehta_critic

[Ritesh Mehta @mehta_critic]

🍦My #Cannes coverage for @IndieWire
- Interviewed the great Kore-eda, inconceivable in my early 20s!
- Also interviewed Rakan Mayasi, with the only Lebanese feature in the Official Selection
- my first review of a zombie film, COLONY, by the director of TRAIN TO BUSAN

[ritesh m @creativelives]

I was 17 when I read BELOVED in college, newly minted in the US from an India of what now seems long ago. To say I was zapped and stunned would be an understatement

[Parul Sehgal @parul_sehgal]

So much has been said about Toni Morrison + so much still feels hidden, unarticulated, difficult to say. I wrote about her desire to "think the unthinkable" (gift link) https://t.co/Q0SMQ1xXiX

[Ritesh Mehta @mehta_critic]

🧵My Berlinale 2026 coverage: five interviews & one review

All films worth considering, a couple rly lit me up (looking at you, LALI & FLYING TIGERS)

For @IndieWire, @FilmmakerMag...

& my debut at @IDAorg's Documentary Magazine!

also: AT THE SEA, QUEEN AT SEA, WOLFRAM, LADY

[Ritesh Mehta @mehta_critic]

So much fun geeking out with the lovely John August about #screenwriting, BIG FISH, coverage forms, writing place, and VEEP!

His book co-written with Craig Mazin based on their podcast is available now!

See our conversation at @FilmmakerMag!

https://t.co/68jHxqJFuO

[ritesh m @creativelives]

American social media use 2025 via @pewresearch

One unsurprising takeaway -- Twitter (X) is dead or dying

#andyetimhere

https://t.co/7o3PXRfCOH

[Ritesh Mehta @mehta_critic]

So pleased & grateful that my debut in @FilmmakerMag is an interview w @GeetaGandbhir, whom I deeply respect & whose astonishing doc THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR--primarily consisting of police body cam footage--has stirred shock & awe (in a good way) at #Sundance
https://t.co/7iMrBthuFB

[Ritesh Mehta @mehta_critic]

For those interested, here's the link to a snippet of book chapter on Aziz Ansari's MASTER OF NONE, part of the second edition of @Nyupress's anthology "How to Watch Television" edited by Ethan Thompson & Jason Mittell

https://t.co/2ieWvo5BYd

[ritesh m @creativelives]

"The art of really taking in literature is one of the great liberal arts—it’s an act of pure freedom, something you do for no other reason than to do it... It will be up to the new generation to decide which tasks they want to delegate to the machines."
https://t.co/9gJG37Oq3O

[ritesh m @creativelives]

It doesn't help that I'm in full denial about generative (and agentic) AI

https://t.co/GscHmWqhLd

[Ritesh Mehta @mehta_critic]

"There are more than 200 million Dalits in India. That’s more than half of America. It’s about time that people know around the world."

👏🏽 Neeraj @ghaywan's HOMEBOUND heads to #TIFF in this Sep! Re-sharing my interview w him & @somenmishra0 at Cannes

https://t.co/1wh2fn7x29

[Ritesh Mehta @mehta_critic]

I spoke to Palestinian-Danish filmmaker Mahdi Fleifel about his sharp & affecting feature debut, TO A LAND UNKNOWN, which is out in limited theaters in the US tomorrow July 11, distributed by @watermelon_pics. Here's the interview at @FilmmakerMag
https://t.co/5gEWo3Ie5Z

[Ritesh Mehta @mehta_critic]

imperfect ranking, selective memory, some films that brought me into a decade or into cinema, others that resonate consistently #nyt

[ritesh m @creativelives]

Very cool, and I love the presentation!! https://t.co/Zd4uzYAApd

[Filmmaker Magazine @FilmmakerMag]

Such an inspiring interview of Ryan Coogler and his "Sinners" producers, Zinzi Coogler and Sev Ohanian by @mehta_critic. Don't know that we've ever had an interview where the director-producer relationship is so foregrounded and present. https://t.co/vOzhH6HE71

[ritesh m @creativelives]

"...the current class of high school seniors is the last before a long decline begins in the number of 18-year-olds. This so-called demographic cliff has been predicted ever since Americans started having fewer babies at the advent of the Great Recession"
https://t.co/crJ7NtuRqG

[Ritesh Mehta @mehta_critic]

Bucket list interview ✅ #Sinners

Soo great—an honor, truly—to speak to Ryan Coogler, Zinzi Coogler, & @SevOhanian (who I’ve known since our USC days) on the film that has spawned a cultural moment!

Watch on IMAX &/or 70mm if possible!

@FilmmakerMag

https://t.co/acSLoRUmr9

[Ritesh Mehta @mehta_critic]

Loved conversing with the ever gracious @AndrewAhnFilms for this piece, I love the variety across his film (and TV) directing work!

[ritesh m @creativelives]

Terrific links, lists, and explorations for book lovers
https://t.co/dAWL6KTmHn

[Ritesh Mehta @mehta_critic]

Excited and honored to moderate this fantastic @filmindependent #spiritawards Virtual Directors Close-up panel, exactly a week from today!

So if you’re a Film Independent member sign up and join this free series, I’ll field your questions in the q&a!

https://t.co/e5YpetxXo3

[ritesh m @creativelives]

As clocks turn, and a new quarter century begins, I'll note that when I think of AI fondly, it is American Idol's moment in the Aughts that auditions for a more permanent place in my mind.