Filmmaker
Pratibha Parmar
Pratibha Parmar is an award-winning British filmmaker – a writer, director and producer with a track record of bringing deeply compelling stories into the mainstream media, stories that resonate beyond the margins. She has worked across multiple genres – feature documentaries, short dramas, music videos, a narrative feature, and is a recent director of episodic television, LAW & ORDER SUV and Ava DuVernay’s QUEEN SUGAR. Her work has appeared in a variety of broadcast and theatrical platforms.
Pratibha’s documentary A PLACE OF RAGE, on African American women and the civil rights movement, which focused on June Jordan and Angela Davis, received international critical acclaim and was named Best Historical Documentary at the National Black Programming Consortium in the US. Her other documentaries include the award-winning KHUSH, the first film to document the lives and experiences of South Asian lesbian and gay people in UK, Canada and India. KHUSH was the recipient of multiple international awards and became a cult classic in India where bootlegged copies created community screenings and opportunities for Indian LGBT people at a time when homosexuality was still illegal in India. Pratibha’s debut narrative feature, NINA’S HEAVENLY DELIGHTS, a rom-com set in Scotland, was released in the UK and US. Her documentary ALICE WALKER: BEAUTY IN TRUTH is the definitive film on this Pulitzer Prize-winning author and was broadcast on American Masters (PBS) and BBC.
A globally recognized filmmaker and human rights activist, Pratibha Parmar's films WARRIOR MARKS and KHUSH helped gain much-needed rights for women and girls as well as contributing to the visibility of marginalized LGBT communities. Her accomplishments have been recognized with multiple awards. In 2017, Pratibha was awarded the ICON award presented by Bagari London Indian Film Festival in Association with the British Film Institute for Outstanding Contribution to Indian and World Cinema. In 2016 she was included in the BBC’s list of 100 inspirational and influential women. Pratibha was awarded the Pink Peacock Award in recognition of exemplary Service to the South Asian Queer Community. She is the proud recipient of the Frameline Film Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award (US), presented to an individual who has made a significant and outstanding contribution to lesbian and gay media. Pratibha is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Directors Guild of America. (2/24)
Available Title(s):
My Name Is Andrea
A film by Pratibha Parmar, 2022, 91 min, Color
MY NAME IS ANDREA, directed by award-winning filmmaker Pratibha Parmar (ALICE WALKER: BEAUTY IN TRUTH, WARRIOR MARKS, A PLACE OF RAGE, KUSH, and more) is a hybrid feature documentary about one of the most controversial figures of the 20th century. Andrea Dworkin offered a revolutionary analysis of male supremacy with a singular urgency and iconoclastic…
Read MoreAlice Walker: Beauty in Truth
A film by Pratibha Parmar, 2013, 84 min, Color
ALICE WALKER: BEAUTY IN TRUTH tells the compelling story of an extraordinary woman. Alice Walker made history as the first black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her groundbreaking novel, The Color Purple. Her early life unfolded in the midst of violent racism and poverty during some of the most turbulent years…
Read MoreWavelengths
A film by Pratibha Parmar, 1997, 15 min, Color
WAVELENGTHS explores the time honored quest for love and human intimacy in the polished world of computers and the Internet. Set in gay bars, dreams, and cyberspace, this perceptive and highly visual film contemplates one woman's search for emotionally safer sex. Mona's girlfriend has left Mona with a broken heart, an empty goldfish tank, and—in…
Read MoreWarrior Marks
A film by Pratibha Parmar, 1993, 54 min, Color
WARRIOR MARKS is a poetic and political film about female genital mutilation from the director of A PLACE OF RAGE, presented by the Pulitzer Prize winning author of THE COLOR PURPLE and POSSESSING THE SECRET OF JOY. Female genital mutilation affects one hundred million of the world’s women and this remarkable film unlocks some of…
Read MoreSari Red
A film by Pratibha Parmar, 1988, 12 min, Color
Made in memory of Kalbinder Kaur Hayre, a young Indian woman killed in 1985 in a racist attack in England, SARI RED eloquently examines the effect of the ever-present threat of violence upon the lives of Asian women in both private and public spheres. In this moving visual poem, the title refers to red, the…
Read MoreThe Righteous Babes
A film by Pratibha Parmar, 1998, 50 min, Color
In this accomplished documentary, acclaimed filmmaker Pratibha Parmar (A PLACE OF RAGE, WARRIOR MARKS) explores the intersection of feminism with popular music, focusing on the role of female recording artists in the 1990s and their influence on modern women. Parmar argues that, far from being dead, feminism has thrived and expanded its reach through the…
Read MoreA Place of Rage
A film by Pratibha Parmar, 1991, 52 min, Color
This exuberant celebration of African American women and their achievements features interviews with Angela Davis, June Jordan and Alice Walker. Within the context of the civil rights, Black power and feminist movements, the trio reassess how women such as Rosa Parks and Fannie Lou Hamer revolutionized American society. A stirring chapter in African American history,…
Read MoreMemory Pictures
A film by Pratibha Parmar, 1984, 28 min,
A beautifully composed profile of gay Indian photographer, Sunil Gupta, and the way his work portrays issues of sexual and racial identity in relation to personal and familial history.
Read MoreKhush
A film by Pratibha Parmar, 1991, 24 min, Color
KHUSH means ecstatic pleasure in Urdu. For South Asian lesbians and gay men in Britain, North America, and India (where homosexuality is still illegal) the term captures the blissful intricacies of being queer and of color. Inspiring testimonies bridge geographical differences to locate shared experiences of isolation and exoticization but also the unremitting joys and…
Read MoreJodie: An Icon
A film by Pratibha Parmar, 1996, 24 min, Color
Jodie is a fast paced, breezy look at the transatlantic phenomenon that has made Hollywood actress Jodie Foster an icon for lesbians who identify with, adore and celebrate the screen personas of her remarkable career. Fans and queer cultural critics share their favorite ‘iconic’ moments giving illuminating lesbian readings of Foster’s key films which trace…
Read MoreFlesh and Paper
A film by Pratibha Parmar, 1990, 26 min, Color
FLESH AND PAPER is a lyrical exploration of the sense and sensibilities of Indian lesbian poet and writer, Suniti Bamjoshi. This moving and powerful portrait of a unique and brave woman weaves Namjoshi’s life and writings into a sensual tapestry. Born into an Indian royal family, Namjoshi discusses her reasons for leaving India (she fell…
Read MoreEmergence
A film by Pratibha Parmar, 1986, 18 min, Color
Common themes of identity, alienation and herstory in the context of the diasporan experience emerge in this powerful film. Four Black and Third World women artists, among them African American feminist poet Audre Lorde and Palestinian performance artist Mona Hatoum, speak forcefully through their art and writing.
Read MoreDouble the Trouble, Twice the Fun
A film by Pratibha Parmar, 1992, 25 min, Color
A rare and lively examination of disability and homosexuality as it affects both women and men, DOUBLE THE TROUBLE, TWICE THE FUN, advocates for acceptance rather than pity for the participants in this film. Interviews with a wide range of disabled lesbian and gay people are intercut with dramatic recreations and performances. Made for Channel…
Read MoreBhangra Jig
A film by Pratibha Parmar, , 4 min,
A vibrant short film about how young Asian people in Scotland celebrate desire and self-pride through dance and music.
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