Early life

Born to a Malayali father and a Kannadiga mother, Bina Paul was brought up in Delhi.^[2] After graduating from the University of Delhi in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in psychology, she went on to pursue a diploma in film editing from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, in 1983.^[3]

Career

Bina got a break as an editor with G. Aravindan's The Seer Who Walks Alone (1985), a documentary on Jiddu Krishnamurti. She went on to work in a few documentaries including Rajiv Vijay Raghavan's Sister Alphonsa of Bharananganam (1986), which won the Best Biographical Film at the 34th National Film Awards.^[4] She made her feature film debut with John Abraham's Amma Ariyan (1986).^[5] Her other films include Padippura (1989), Janmadinam (1997), Agnisakshi (1999). Her work in Revathi's Mitr, My Friend (2002), which had an all-woman crew, won her her first National Film Award.^[6] The following year, she was awarded another National Film Award for the non-feature film Unni. She has also worked in television and has been the recipient of three Kerala State Television Award for Best Editor.^[3]

Apart from editing over 50 documentaries and feature films, Paul has directed four documentaries.^[7] She has collaborated with women filmmakers like Revathi, Suma Josson, Pamela Rooks and Shabnam Virmani.^[3]

Paul played a prominent role in shaping up the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) right from its inception and also served as its artistic director.^[8] She also served as the deputy director (festival) of Kerala State Chalachitra Academy and worked as a senior editor at the Centre for Development of Imaging Technology.^[3] She served as the principal of the L. V. Prasad Film Academy (Thiruvananthapuram campus).^[9] In February 2017, she co-founded the Women in Cinema Collective, India's first association that aims to work towards equal opportunity and dignity of women employees in film industry.^[10]

Personal life

Beena married director - cinematographer Venu, a fellow student at the FTII, in 1983;^[2] the couple has a daughter.^[11] The two have worked together in several films including Daya (1998), Munnariyippu (2014) and Carbon(2018), all directed by Venu.^[12]

National Film Awards

• Best Editing – Mitr, My Friend (2002)^[7]
• Best Non-Feature Film Editing – Unni (2003)^[3]

Kerala State Film Awards

• Best Editor – Daya (1998)^[15]
• Best Editor – Sayahnam (2000)^[16]
• Best Editor – Bioscope (2008)^[16]