Internationally experienced, MFA in Digital Cinema teaches Filmmaking in Jacksonville, Florida/ online

Professor Powell taught me during my two-year post graduate programme in mass communication at Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication (SIMC), Pune, India. She teach me subjects including AV communication, documentary filmmaking and editing, as well as headed our department in our final year.
Years later, some people from your past, and the lessons they taught, tend to stay on with you, helping you in your professional and personal life. Without doubt, Professor Powell is one of them. The clarity in her pedagogy and her interesting teaching methods always inspired me. Beyond the classroom, she has always been a warm and resourceful person, ready to help and make life easier, as long as you're willing to go that extra mile too.
After passing out, I also tried my hand at teaching AV communication to undergraduate students at Symbiosis International University. Much of Professor Powell teaching methods came back to me in good use.
I am a journalist now, not a practising visual communication professional, but still, the clarity of thought she encouraged, her stress on organisation and the need to tell stories effectively and simply, stay with me in my professional practice.
Wishing you the very best, Professor Powell. May more young minds be lucky to learn and grow under your care.

I am honored to recommend Nikhat to give private film instruction to students. I met Nikki a couple of years ago through my friend who is the Director of the Film Commission in Tupelo, MS. I have been working toward expanding a fledging film program at Itawamba Community College in Fulton, MS, where I teach English and serve as an advisor to the ICC Film Club, and Nikki has been a tremendous help to me. In that capacity, I have observed Nikki’s teaching methods and interactions with college students; as a result, I am confident that Nikki would be a great asset to any institution of higher learning.

Because of Nikki’s extensive experience in film, I asked her to be a guest speaker in my Introduction to Film class last fall. I had scheduled a lecture/exercise on camera work, and I knew that Nikki would have a lot of detailed instruction for my students. She didn’t disappoint. She spoke, and the students were mesmerized. She also gave the students several visuals as her examples, and they had intelligent questions afterwards. They were so interested in her teaching that they immediately asked when we could schedule a return visit.

Therefore, when our spring semester began, I was thrilled when Nikki asked if some of my film students would be able to participate in a film shoot with her. She said that she needed several people to help with a short film she was creating for a graduate class. Needless to say, my students jumped at the chance.

For the film, Nikki went through the entire process of creating a film: she auditioned the actors, interviewed the crew, gave strict instructions for the shoot, and maintained a professional atmosphere on set. The students absolutely loved it. One student said that he learned more during the five hours on set with Nikki than he had learned in the previous two years of studying film.

Nikki is patient and encouraging when explaining techniques and giving tips to the students, and she has a comfortable rapport with them that allows them to feel confident in asking questions. If my college had a fulltime position for Film Instructor, we would hire her immediately. Any college will be fortunate to include her on the faculty.

It is my privilege to write this letter for Nikhat. I have known her for over nine years, first as a teacher in the filmmaking program that I attended at Alliance Franciase, and then as a mentor and guide! The first thing that struck me in Nikhat's class was her commitment, knowledge and passion. I was always amazed by the depth of her experience and the interest she showed to acquire more knowledge. She is dynamic, driven towards results and very hard working, and it is hard to not get influenced by these qualities in her class. She pushed each of us to deliver our best and instilled in us, in her own words, 'there is nothing that you cannot do.' Personally, while I cherished the subjects that she taught me and the subject knowledge that I gained, what stayed with me long thereafter is her zeal, work ethic and positive vibes! Thank you, Nikhat!

I have known Nikhat for over 25 years, and have followed both her teaching and editing careers, with interest.

In 2004 she edited our 45 minute documentary, “Taking Destiny in their Hands” that has been produced by our organization and directed by me. I have been extremely happy with her in-depth knowledge and the high caliber of skills she demonstrated at all stages of the pre and post-production as the Editor of the project.

“Taking Destiny in their Hands” is the first attempt to visually document the relevance of the International Movement of Working Children and the central themes that it addresses. It gives the viewers a rare opportunity to listen to children’s analysis of global problems, their strategies to overcome them and their call to adults and policy-makers to give them due recognition as social actors. It provides an overview of the long process that organized working children’s movements of different countries have undergone to initially create their own national and regional movements and then a united International Movement. It highlights the struggles and successes of their participation in the international policy making arena. Many of the shots for the film have been taken from visual documentation of the working children’s movements and their support organisations. Detailed interviews were conducted in Milan and Berlin – some of them feature in the film.

The editing of the film was a very challenging task. The film involved different children’s movements and representations from around the world, speaking in 18 different languages. We needed to hold together the film by using sync sound and not voice over’s or dubbing the many languages spoken. This required a large volume of text to be integrated with the visuals. We are very pleased to say that the visual thread of the film is neither tedious nor repetitive. All the international and national organisations involved with the film have expressed great appreciation for the film.

The editing process required Nikhat to work closely with the scripting team to ensure that the film was able to present a balanced view, while continuing to communicate the passion of the many working children’s movements. Her inputs at this stage were crucial in crystallizing the structure of the film. She has enriched the film with her insight and observations, and her keen understanding of the audience of the film. She made consistent attempts to familiarize herself with the history of the movements and the global contexts in which they operate. Her meticulous organization, documentation and her commitment to perfection have significantly contributed to the film.
Apart from our experience of working with Nikhat in this recent film, she has also edited our other film titled “Citizens Today”, a 50-minute documentary made three years prior to this. This explores the area of working children’s participation in governance and their citizenship. She also edited the CWC entry into the UNICEF international competition for short films related to the participation of young people. This film was the only film from Asia to be shortlisted among the top 10 entries and UNICEF made it available to all international broadcast stations on December 11 of that year, the “International Broadcast day for children”.

Apart from my experience of working with Nikhat as an editor, I have had several opportunities to watch her at close quarters as she built up her own institution, “Magic in Motion” from the scratch fourteen years ago. She formulated 8-week part time courses that allow students an extremely high level of participation, culminating in a 10 minute fiction film conceived, scripted, directed and edited by the team. It has been wonderful to see how her able guidance has resulted in several films of very good quality. She is a committed motivator who challenges every student to achieve the best he or she can. Her curriculum and method of working closely matches top universities in the world. She has also built up the Broadcast Television department at the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media in Bangalore. I understand her students are well placed in different parts of the country, and one even had an opportunity to work with CNN Hong Kong for some months.

We are extremely happy with Nikhat’s attitude, dedication and commitment to her work. Throughout our association with her, she has always proved beyond doubt that she will be an asset to any institution she chooses to work with.

In the years i've known Nikhat i have found her to be a highly responsible person, extremely committed, speaks her mind out and is involved completely if she takes up something.