Parched: A Tale Of Ordinary Women Standing Up Against Misogyny And Repression
Lifestyle Jun 17, 2016
From writer, director and producer Leena Yadav comes a film that has had sold out screenings and garnered multiple awards from juries and audiences.
Parched is the dramatic tale of four ordinary women who courageously stand up to repression and misogyny in their parched Gujarat village.
The film has gotten rave reviews from many media outlets, including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Variety, Indiewire and the Hollywood Reporter. Parched has been part of mainstream and South Asian festivals around the globe.
“This story is my reaction to a misogynistic society that treats women as objects of sex, where their greatest role is to serve men,” said Yadav about her motivation to make the film. “Giving my women characters a voice that observes, absorbs and reacts was what drove me to write this drama about ordinary women who are driven to extraordinary ends.”
At the world premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF’s Artistic Director Cameron Bailey proclaimed, “With a bold visual confidence, Yadav combines the stark realism of hostile desert landscapes with a Bollywood palette, vibrant tones that celebrate the unleashing of the women’s repressed sensuality and dreams…transforming her characters’ struggles into a stirring portrayal of liberation.”

The film later screened at the Stockholm Film Festival, Camerimage in Poland, the Palm Springs International Film Festival, the Miami International Film Festival, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the Cleveland International Film Festival, the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, the New York Indian Film Festival and Festival Cinema 5 Continents, the Beijing International Film Festival, Festival International de Films de Fribourg and Festival 2 Valenciennes.
The film’s top honours include the Stockholm Impact Award for Headstrong Filmmakers, Best of the Fest at Palm Springs International Film Festival, Best Feature Film (Audience Award) at Festival 2 Valenciennes and Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and Best Film (Young Jury) at the Festival Cinema 5 Continents.

Photo Credit: Wolfe Releasing
Starting today, June 17th, 2016, you can catch the film in New York, Los Angeles, San Jose and Fremont. Parched will screen in America for one week, thanks to Wolfe Releasing.
After its weeklong layover, Parched will make its way to the Edinburgh International Film Festival, the London Indian Film Festival, the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne and Film Victoria Australia.
Starring Tannishtha Chatterjee, Radhika Apte, Surveen Chawla, Lehar Khan and Adil Hussain, the film is produced by the celebrated Indian actor, director and producer Ajay Devgan and shot by the Academy Award–winning cinematographer of Titanic, Russell Carpenter.
Main Image Photo Credit: Wolfe Releasing
Anokhi Today, Breaking Taboos, California, Current News, Entertainment, Film Festival, Fremont, Gujarat, Leena Yadav, London, Los Angeles, Misogynist, Misogyny, New York, Oppression, Parched, Repression, Social Awareness, The New York Times, Tiff, Women, Women's Empowerment, Women's Rights
Taras Babiak
Author
Taras is a freelance blogger, video editor and screenwriter. He is the co-writer of "Made In Bali," which recently won Best Short Film of the year from the Director's Guild of Canada.
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