About Kavitha

For over a decade, Kavitha Chekuru has worked as a journalist and documentary filmmaker. She's directed and reported nearly thirty documentaries primarily focused on human rights and security across the globe. Her work has been the recipient of the George Polk award, the Overseas Press Club Edward R. Murrow award, and five News and Documentary Emmy nominations.  

Her work outside the US has largely focused on human rights issues including investigations into the ongoing war on Gaza, civilian casualties in the US bombing campaign in Afghanistan, the killing of Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh, forced disappearances in Mexico and multiple investigations into the killing of land rights activists across Latin America. In the United States, her reporting has covered a wide range of issues such as safety lapses in the air and rail industries, Indigenous land rights, family separation at the US-Mexico border and the transformation of US politics over the past decade. 

Before working in the documentary field, Kavitha worked in news for Al Jazeera English in both breaking and short-form work, covering the US and Latin America.  She is a graduate of Northwestern University where she studied History as well as Film and Media. While she is based in New York, home is the beautiful plains of West Texas in the city of Lubbock where she was born and raised.