Eli Meadow Ramraj

Eli Meadow Ramraj is a Canadian filmmaker and philosopher exploring consciousness, selfhood, language, and play through scholarship and cinema. Born and raised in Singapore, Eli has lived, studied, and worked in Vancouver Island, Toronto, Berlin, and London. By the age of 13, he had written and self-published four novels. By 18, Eli was awarded a full four-year National Scholarship to the University of Toronto in recognition of his creative and academic achievements. He graduated with the Norman Jewison Fellowship in Film Studies, and was selected for Canon Canada’s inaugural 12-month creative incubator, Canon Futures. He completed an MA in Directing in Berlin and is currently pursuing an MA in Philosophy at King's College London. Eli coaches for the Toronto Debate Academy and enjoys climbing and playfighting.

Now, Eli is preparing for a Research-Creation PhD on how films do philosophy. His proposed dissertation explores how narrative cinema can evoke first-person philosophical experiences – particularly self-transcendent states which foster compassion, reduce violence, and expand care toward the environment and other people. In parallel, he is working on The Man Who Had No Head, a feature film about an actor who experiences ego-death at an awards show.