P S Vinothraj is a filmmaker hailing from Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. Owing to poverty, he dropped out of school when he was in fourth class. To overcome the financial difficulties at home, he opted to become a child labourer at the early age of 8 and worked in a textile factory in Tiruppur until he turned 19. To eke out a living, he then sold DVDs at a roadside shop in Chennai. During this time, he was introduced to a few people from the Tamil film industry and eventually became an assistant director to Mr Sargunam, a Tamil filmmaker. He worked with him for almost four years on two film projects. He then worked as an assistant director for Manal Magudi, a post-modernistic theatre troupe established by Mr Muruga Boopathy in Kovilpatti, Tamil Nadu. He utilised his time during this venture to shoot a few short films. His debut feature Pebbles (Koozhangal) was inspired by his personal life.
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.
