As NYU alum Rishabh Jain created his thesis documentary while studying graduate journalism in the News & Documentary program, he never could have predicted that it would win one of the most prestigious awards for student filmmakers worldwide. His film — inspired by his on-the-ground coverage of refugee camps for The Associated Press — was selected from over 2,600 entries for the 2024 Student Academy Awards and took home third place in the documentary category.
Jain began his career strictly in the print sector of journalism. Now, he is completely committed to pursuing documentary work — but without sacrificing his news-based approach to storytelling.
In an interview with WSN, Jain talked about working for the AP, reporting on Bangladeshi refugee camps and winning a Student Academy Award.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
WSN: How did you get into documentary journalism?
Jain: I was always interested in writing. That’s what started it all. For a long time, even after my internship with the AP, I was mostly looking for print jobs because I thought that print is where it’s at. It took me a long time to shake that notion, because I saw that people are not reading anymore — video is what is being consumed by the masses. Somewhere along the way in my full-time job, I realized I’m doing the right thing and should not be doing just print journalism.
After growing up in New Delhi, India, Jain moved to the United States to attend the University of Iowa and pursue a bachelor’s degree in journalism and economics. He described that working as a reporter for the school’s student publication, the Daily Iowan, inspired him to channel his longtime love for writing into journalistic pieces.
Jain said that he first worked in video and photography coverage as an intern for the AP in the summer of 2015, when he reported on stories from the best-paid actors worldwide to dating apps in India. After that, the publication hired Jain as a full-time video journalist on the South Asia desk, a position which he held for almost seven years.
WSN: What was your experience like working at the AP?
Jain: I’ve covered almost every big news out of South Asia, from 2016 to 2022 — which includes the Rohingya refugee crisis, a couple of natural disasters, two or three elections in northern India, violent protests and terrorist attacks in Bangladesh and India — you name it. Because AP has such a small staff in South Asia, there is no ‘beat,’ per se. You get to cover everything. I was at fashion shows one day, covering terrorist attacks the next day. We covered everything, and for someone who’s just starting out in journalism, that’s the kind of experience I would have dreamt for — to be that busy and to be utilized and needed constantly. Those were great formative years.
During this time, Jain completed five, 20-day trips to Bangladesh to film video content of the Rohingya refugee crisis, which started in 2017 after the Muslim minority group was displaced from Myanmar following mass attacks. At the end of each trip, Jain said that he would continue working from the AP’s office in New Delhi until it was time for him to return to the camps.
Jain emphasized the extreme poverty he witnessed while covering the crisis, describing that there were more refugees who had escaped the genocide they faced in Myanmar present at the camps each time he returned to Bangladesh. The experience was Jain’s first time hearing about the Rohingya crisis, and sparked his realization that he wanted to tell the stories of the people around him.
WSN: What kept you motivated while working in the refugee camps?
Jain: Everything was hard, nothing was easy. Working in the Rohingya refugee camps all day, carrying heavy video equipment, and also getting sick, day in and day out. But, you move beyond that. You see that there’s a higher purpose of telling these stories and then you think about how privileged you are to be one of the few on the front line to be able to report it. All the difficulties sort of fade out. It does take a toll on you, but your grief is incomparable to the grief of the people whose story you’re telling, so that always keeps you going.
Jain said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, he decided that he wanted to enhance his video journalism skills beyond his work at the AP. He applied to NYU and was accepted with a tuition scholarship from the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute that covered about 80% of his tuition, allowing him to attend the university.
His award-winning thesis documentary told the story of a girl named Khushi in a Rohingya refugee camp as she tried to pursue an education in spite of Bangladeshi laws that forbade it. Jain said that Khushi’s story in the documentary, aptly titled “A Dream Called Khushi (Happiness),” immediately intrigued him after he met her at the camps.
Jain said that while he is currently working on a month-long freelance news assignment in India for the AP, he does not see himself working in a newsroom again. He plans to continue making documentaries — including one about his uncle working as a filmmaker in Mumbai and another about the history of laws against cannabis in international geopolitics.
WSN: What does winning the Student Academy Award mean to you?
Jain: You’d think that winning a Student Academy Award means that you’ve got it right. But no, not really — it’s really just a good launching pad. If you won a Student Academy Award, it’s this way for them to say that you’re talented at what you do, and that you should continue to do it. It really encourages you to continue to have a career in filmmaking, because otherwise, it’s a crazy world. It’s so easy to give up and walk away, do something simpler. I always thought that after my AP job, whatever job I would have was going to be much easier. But every opportunity I get to work on significant stories that I believe are important to be told — not because of the scale of them per se, but because of how untold they may be — those are the kind of opportunities that I’m never going to give up on.
Contact Rory Lustberg at [email protected].
