Anand Varadaraj is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Bangalore International Short Film Festival (started in 2010). The only Oscar-accredited festival in India.

Actor, producer and member of Suchitra Film Society – 50 year old organisation. Anand is also the Trustee of the Centre for Film and Drama, Additionally, Anand collaborates and mentors many independent filmmakers and producers for their new ventures. He is produces five shorts this year as part of the BISFF Goethe Program to help young filmmakers.

His experience with cinema is global with several International cultural Forums in his repertoire, including curating of Film Festivals and also as Jury for organisations across the globe. He presented shorts films in Hamburg in June 2025 and was the Jury at Kinoproba festival in Russia in 2024. He was the Jury chair of the Aladerii Film Festival ,Chicago – 2022. He is a regular visitor to Cannes, Berlinale and Goteborg Film Festival. His affiliations overseas include but are not limited to Oberhausen – Germany, Sapporo Short Film Festival – Japan and Haifa International Film Festival – Israel.