Indian-born writer, photographer and filmmaker Sej Saraiya has spent the last several years documenting Indigenous cultures around the world. She received her MFA in Screenwriting from the University of Southern California in 2009, and has since traveled to the interiors of Asia on research-oriented photographic journeys that serve as windows into remote cultures and their climate action enriching ways. 

Her short fiction film, THE CURIOUS WOODS (2021), on the beauty and necessity of nature in the life of human beings was screened at film festivals worldwide and won over 25 awards including Best Enivronmental Film, Best Director and Best Viewer Impact. Her short, THE LANGUAGE THEY SPOKE (2019), which appreciates the much needed and forgotten silence in a world full of noise, was also screened in film festivals worldwide and won several awards including Best Experimental Film.

Indigenous Cultural-Conservation Reel

The Dance of Freedom film teaser

From Head to Heart Documentary teaser

  • THE LANGUAGE THEY SPOKE (2019)

    Written & Directed by Sej Saraiya
    Director of Photography: Pavel Safonov
    Narrated by Michael Petted
    Edited by Pavel Safonov

  • THE CURIOUS WOODS (2021)

    Written & Directed by Sej Saraiya
    Edited by Pavel Safonov
    Music by Estas Tonne
    Original Score by Dhruv Goel
    Director of Photography: Pavel Safonov

  • CONVERSATIONS WITH BRAHMAN (2021)

    Photographs by Sej Saraiya
    Narrated by Aruna Shields
    Music by Craig Pruess
    Edited by Sej Saraiya

  • FROM HEAD TO HEART (2025)

    Executive Producer: Anupam Satyasheel
    Written & Directed by Sej Saraiya & Priyamvada Narayanan
    Editor, Director of Photography: Pavel Safonov