Bio
Leena Manimekalai considers herself as a Poet and Filmmaker. She lives out of Chennai, a big village city, down south of India but she is void of any nationality other than the passport she holds on to. Her birth markers are brown skin, Tamil language, kurunji thinai(wild daughter of western ghats) and rage as red chilly. Toronto is her second base as she is intrigued by how the city unfolds through the four acts of spring, summer, fall and winter. Her journey started with documentaries as a natural extension of her political activism and rage for social justice. She is currently immersed in honing fiction and experimental film language but refuses to limit her expressions to definitions of genre. Ousting the hybridity in her film language, her films have managed to travel over hundred International Film Festivals across the world.
Her Poems in Tamil have been published, translated and awarded. She has started writing short stories and novellas but she enjoys screenwriting.
She teaches film production/screenwriting at various Universities, Colleges and Film Schools and leads workshops on Documentary, Screenwriting, Film as Research Creation and Media Making. Though passionate about making art, she spends substantial time in her life to teach and mentor fellow artists as she feels she unlearns a lot while teaching and stays younger. She has new found love in climate storytelling and her research is preoccupied in embodying emergent cinema technologies like Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Machinima, and AI.
She is an interventionist and her art practice is grounded in participatory filmmaking and decolonisation. Her tryst with censorship, both constitutional and extra constitutional, as a brown queer female body, as a poet and as a politically unapologetic filmmaker is in itself a meta narrative in her journey as an Artist. Personally, she is curious about even mundane things and thinks she is modestly talented and proud of her hard working ability. She is an amateur cook, dancer, painter, a big fan of trekking- stargazing-bird watching, loves good coffee and burns for any form of music.
Good Memories
Fellow, (2023), The Center for Ethics and Writing, Bard College, NY
Artist in Residence (2023) - Jackman Humanities Institute, University of Toronto, Centre for South Asian Critical Humanities, University of Toronto, Mississauga, South Asian Visual Arts Centre (SAVAC)
Artist in Residence (2022-23), Centre for Free Expression, Creative School, Toronto Metropolitan University
British Academy of Film & Television Arts - BAFTA Breakthrough Talent (2022)
Named as one of the twenty artists who inspire change globally by PEN America (2023)
Nominated for MFA (Film) Thesis Prize, York University, Film Kaathadi / Kite, 2023
Graduate Fellowship for Academic Distinction (2020), MFA (Film), York University, Toronto
N Sivalingam Award for Tamil Studies (2021), York Centre for Asian Research, York University, Toronto
Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale (Feature Fiction) had a world premiere in Busan IFF, 2019 and won FIPRESCI Jury Award, Golden Kailasha Awards for Best Film - Best Actor - Best Cinematography at Aurangabad International Film Festival
Is it too much to ask (Documentary) won the Best Documentary Prize at the Singapore South Asian Film Festival (2017); Jury Prize at Film South Asia, Nepal (2017); Audience Award, Best Short, Berlin Feminist Week, Germany
Wonder Women, a Documentary Series, HallMark TV, USA won the Daytime Emmy Award in 2017
Woman of the Year Femina Award for Literary Contribution, India (2015)
Charles Wallace Art Award (2012) in Visual Ethnography
White Van Stories (2013), a documentary feature on enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka won accolades on platforms like Channel 4 and Al Jazeera.
National Lambda Award for Queer Poetry for Antharakkanni, India (2014)
International Association of Women in Radio & Television (IAWRT) Fellowship, Change makers (2013)
Sengadal / The Dead Sea (Docu Fiction) won NAWFF Award at Tokyo for the Best Asian Woman Cinema and the prestigious Indian Panorama selections (2011)
Sirpi Literary Award, Tamilnadu, India, Parathaiyarul Raani (2011)
Commonwealth Fellowship (2009) in Gender and Cinema
Goddesses (Documentary), won the Golden Conch at the Mumbai International Film Festival (2008), One Billion Eyes National Award (2007), John Abraham National Jury Award for Cinema of Resistance (2007), nominated for Horizon award at Munich International Film Festival and Asia Pacific Screen Award at Brisbane (2007)
The EU Fellowship (2005) in Media and Conflict Resolution
Visiting Young Film Talent Fellowship, Berlinale (2008)
Iyal Award - Poetry, Toronto, Canada, Ulagin Azhagiya Muthal Penn (2009)
Best Actor and Best Experimental Video in Independent Art Film Festival, Love Lost, Toronto (2005)
Best Documentary in Paris and Norway Independent Diaspora Festivals, Mathamma (2005)
Silver Trophy for the Best Documentary in Europe Movies Film Festival, Mathamma, Switzerland (2004)
In Progress
- I will not keep quiet that traces rape survivors and their fight for justice across India is in post production.
- Sunshine is her film in progress on the cargo ship MV Sun sea that carried 492 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees from Thailand to Vancouver was part of NFDC Film Bazaar Co-Production Lab (2016), Cannes – Marche du film Producers Network (2017) and European Film Market – Berlinale (2017).
- Screen Adaptation of the Internationally best-selling book, Love Queen of Malabar with Montreal based writer Merrily Weisbord will be her first international co-production with Canada.
- Pink Lines, a docu-series adapting Mark Gevisser’s iconic book cutting across profound LKGBTq2S+ experiences, spanning eight countries, is in development.
- Saracura - a participatory climate cinema with Quilombola communities in progress at Amazonia, Brazil.
- Projects, Red is not the color of blood - a true crime series, Goddess of small things - a cybercrime noir, JK - a political thriller are brewing in her writer's room.
Selected Filmography
Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale (Fiction Feature) / 2019 (Streaming in Mubi)
Is it too much to ask (Documentary) / 2017 (Streaming in Mubi)
White Van Stories (Documentary Feature) / 2015 (Streaming in Mubi)
My Mirror is the Door (Poem Film) / 2012
Sengadal / The Dead Sea (Cinema Verité’) / 2011(Streaming in Mubi)
Goddesses (Mid length Documentary) /
2009 (Streaming in Mubi)
MFA School Projects / 2021-22ss
Kaathadi/Kite - Thesis (Hybrid Cinema Feature)
Isolation (3D Short)
So Close yet So Far (Narrative Short)
A story without an end (Analog Cinema)
Black July (Archival Cinema)
Waves of Chennai (Sonic Cinema)
Kaali (Performance Documentary)
Selected Bibliography
Six Poetry Anthologies
Otraiyilaiyena (As a single leaf) - Published by Kanavuppattarai, 2003
Ulagin Azhagiya Muthal Penn (First beautiful woman of the universe) - Published by Kanavuppattarai, 2007
Parathaiyarul Raani (Queen of Sluts) - Published by Kanavuppattarai, 2010
Antharakkanni (Goddess of free spirit) - Published by Kanavuppattarai, 2013
Chichili - Published by Natrinai, 2017
Cyber Kaali - Published by Karuppu Pradhigal, 2023
Three Screenplay Books
Dhevathaigal (Goddesses) – Published by Kanavuppattarai, 2013
Pennadi (My mirror is the door) - Published by Kanavuppattarai, 2013
Sengadal (The Dead Sea) - Published by Kanavuppattarai, 2012
Brief history of employment
Assistant Director, Manoj Creations (Dir.Bharathiraja)
Assistant Director, Media Dreams (Dir.Cheran)
Assistant Director, Kamali (Dir. K.N.T. Sastry)
Program Producer and Anchor, Minbimbangal Productions
Executive Content (Staffed) and External Producer (Fiction & Non-Fiction), Star Vijay Television
Program Producer, Anchor (Staffed) & External Producer (Fiction & Non-Fiction), Sun TV Network
Program Producer and Anchor, Deepam TV (London)
External Producer (Fiction), Kalaingar TV
External Producer (Fiction), Zee Kannada TV
External Producer (Fiction), Eenadu TV
External Producer (Fiction), Maa TV
External Producer for her own banners
Touring Talkies Media works Pvt Ltd
Kanavuppattarai Productions
LM Productions
Karuvachy Films
Complete chronology of
work, recognition and praise
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Film ProgrammingAdvisory Committee Member, Mayworks Festival
Screeningof Kaali, Artist Talk & Film Workshop - Creating a community through Participatory Filmmaking - Under the Radar - Under Represented Queer Cinema, Cinema Feast Collection/ The Baking Film Festival, Montreal.
Video Installation, Kaali, Foyer House, The Centre for Culture and Technology, University of Toronto.
Climate Reality LeadershipCorps Training - Climate Reality Project mentored by Former US Vice President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore, New York, USA.
Screeningof Maadathy - an unfairy tale, Yale University, Co-sponsored by The Franke Program in Science and the Humanities, Whitney Humanities Center and the Yale Macmillan Center Council on SouthEast Asian Studies.
Screening of Kaali, Maadathy-an unfairy tale, Columbia University - South Asian Institute, C0-sponsored by Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures - Barnard College in Collaboration with Artist at Risk Connection, PEN America.
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Fellow, Center for Ethics and Writing Program, Bard College, NY
Artist in Residence, The Jackman Humanities Institute, The Centre for the South Asian Critical Humanities and South Asian Visual Arts Centre, University of Toronto, Winter 2023
Artist in Residence, The Centre of Free Expression, Toronto Metropolitan University (October 2022 – August 2023)
Feature Jury, Mosaic International South Asian Film Festival, Toronto
Jury Member, University of Toronto – Mississauga Students Film Festival
Jury Member, YDOCS, Centre for Leadership and Innovation, Toronto
Mentor, Media Making Workshop, Centre for South Asian Critical Humanities, University of Toronto – Mississauga
Mentor, Chimera, Summer Film Workshop, Cinema Studies Institute, University of Toronto
Screening of Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale and Kaali - University of Toronto
Screening Is it too much to ask and Kaali and lecture on Migration Cinema - University of Tennessee – Knoxville and University of Toronto - Mississauga
Screening of Goddesses and lecture on Caste, Gender, and Labor – Jackman Humanities Institute, University of Toronto
Screening of Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale and Kaali - Twin Cities USA - SEWA - AIFW - South Asian Community’s Non Profit Screening
Climate Cinema – Paper Presentation - The 2023 Beatrice and Arthur Minden Symposium on the Environment - Urban Ecologies: Imagining the Environmentally Just City, School of the Environment, University of Toronto
Keynote Address & Screening of Kaali - I make art to unwrite my cultural body - International Communication Association, Pre-Conference, University of Toronto.
Procession/New Queer/Trans Global Cinemas - Screening of Kaali, Organized by Viral Interventions and Peripheral Visions Co-Lab, York University
Two part Screening and Video Installation, Goddesses who left the Shrine, Centre for Culture and Technology, University of Toronto
Screening of Is it too much to ask, Pride Week, G5A - home for experimental cinema and independent art practice, Mumbai, India
Screening of Is it too much to ask, Himal Magazine and Film South Asia, Screen South Asia - Online
An Evening of Poetry and Cinema - Eighth Virgin’s Poetry - Anthology of Tamil Poems Launch and Reading, Student Film Exhibition produced in Making Media with Manimekalai Workshop and Screening of Excerpts from Leena Manimekalai’s Filmography with a special focus of Censorship and Cinema. Organized by Centre for South Asian Critical Humanities, University of Toronto - Mississauga
Speaker Series - “How I Create Art” - Art and Art History - A collaborative Honors Program between University of Toronto Mississauga
Roundtable - Freedom of Expression , Ageless International Film Festival, HotDocs Ted Rogers Cinema, Toronto
Screening of Pennadi - My Mirror is the Door, Writers and Artists Film Festival, Chennai, India
Screening of Kaali, Maadathy-an unfairy tale - Le Centre Communautaire Des Femmes Sud - Asiatique(CCFSA), Montreal.
Video Installation of Kaali - Coach House, The Centre for Culture and Technology, University of Toronto
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Breakthrough TalentCohort 2022, The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) India
Spotlight , Mubi India, a curation of her six films
Screening and lecture tour of Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale, University of Tennessee, York University, University of Wisconsin Madison, The University of Texas at Austin, Toronto Metropolitan University, Reclaiming India Conference – Hindus for Human Rights, New York
Special screening of Is it too much to ask, Fifth Tamil Studies Symposium – Inventories of Dispossession
Screening of Is it too much ask, at Andar Baahar – Serendipity Arts Festival, Harkat Studio Curation
Presenter of Transiting the Queer Uncommon’s, Queer Summer Institute, York University
Co-creator of Original (Un) Common Digital Cabaret, York University
Screening , Dalit History Month, Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale, Soho House, Mumbai
Premiere , Kaali, a performance documentary on multiculturalism in Canada, Aga Khan Museum, Under the Tent program, CERC Migration, Toronto Metropolitan University.
Protest screening , ‘Sun sets on the forehead of the goddess,’ Kaali – Equity Committee, Faculty Union, Toronto Metropolitan University
Dr. Rajayashree Khushu-Lahiri Memorial Lectureon Decolonising Cinema and Smashing Patriarchy and Screening of Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale at the department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
Organizer , Solidarity with Ukraine Documentary-Music-Poetry Reading - York University
Woman’s Day Screening of Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale at Adjoin, Vagator, Goa
Screening of My Story, Your Story, Women’s Day Film Festival, Panchajanyam Film Society Documentary, Kerala
Dir. Balumahendra Award for Best Director and Best Debut Actor at the Norway Tamil Film Festival, Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale
Featured on Top Films of 2021 lists by Film Companion, Cinema at its Best Annual Awards, First Post, Street Awards / Alternative Arts - Loyola College, Chennai
Cohort , South Bridge, Root.ax, International Co-Production Accelerator, Project The Sunshine
Speaker , Press Freedom Under Fire, The Sania Farooqi Show
Official Selection , Documentary, Is it too much ask, Jaffna Queer Film Festival, Sri Lanka
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Featured Writer, Panellist and Screenwriting Workshop Mentor at Singapore Writers Festival
Inaugural Film, Wench Film Festival, Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale, Mumbai, India
Official Competition, Ottawa Indian Film Festival, Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale, Canada
Official Competition, Regina International Film Festival, Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale, Canada
Official Competition, Barcelona Asian Film Festival, Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale, Spain
Invitation Screening, Is it too much to ask, Jaffna Queer Film Festival, Sri Lanka
Invitation Screening of Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale, IVIEW World Human Rights Film Festival, New Delhi/New York
Special Screening of Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale, Imagine India Film Festival, Madrid, Spain
Special Screening of Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale, Imagine India Film Festival, Madrid, Spain
Screening of Sengadal / The Dead Sea & White Van Stories, Suchitra Suvarna Sambhrama, Fiftieth Year Celebrations, Suchitra Film Society, Bangalore, India
Screening of White Van Stories at Vikalp@Prithvi Film Festival Screenings, Mumbai, India
Screening of Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale, Cinema Paradiso, Auroville, India
PK Rosy Film Society Special Screening, Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale, Kerala
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Inaugural Film, Panchajanyam International Film Festival, Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale, Kerala, India
FIPRESCI Jury Award, Golden Kailasha Awards for Best Film - Best Actor - Best Cinematography, Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale, Aurangabad International Film Festival, India
Latin American Premiere, FICCI 60, Colombia, Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale
Screening, Sengadal / The Dead Sea, Universite' de Quebec’ Montreal, Canada
Official Invitation, Colombo International Film Festival, Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale, Sri Lanka
Participant, International Narrative Features Competition, Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale, Herat International Women Film Festival, Afghanistan, Official Competition, Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale, Jaffna International Film Festival, Srilanka,
Special Screening, Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale, Colombo International Women's Film Festival, Sri Lanka
North American Screenings, Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale,
Coalition of South Asian Festivals of North America formed by Tasveer South Asian Film Festival (TSAFF), Seattle
Chicago South Asian Film Festival (CSAFF), Chicago
DC South Asian Film Festival (DCSAFF), Washington DC
Mosaic International South Asian Film Festival (MISAFF), Toronto
Nepal America International Film Festival (NAIFF), Maryland
South Asian Film Festival of Montreal (SAFFM), Montreal
Vancouver International South Asian Film Festival (VISAFF), Vancouver, Canada
Finalist, Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale, Les Rimbaud du Cinema Awards, France
Official Selection, I View World Human Rights Film Festival, Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale, New Delhi, New York, India, USA
COVID 19 Support Screenings for Trans Community, Queer Asia, Is It Too Much To Ask, Kings College, London, UK
Golden Jubilee Screenings, Sengadal / The Dead Sea and White Van Stories, Suchitra Film Society, Bangalore, India.
FIPRESCI Grand Prix Award Nominations, Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale, India
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World Premiere, Busan International Film festival, Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale
India Premiere, International Competition, Kolkata International Film Festival Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale
Official Selection, Asian Competition, Third Eye Asian Film Festival, Maadathy, An Unfairy Tale Mumbai, India
Delegate, Marche Du Film, Indo-Canadian Co-Production, Love Queen of Malabar, Cannes, France
Delegate, TIFF Industry, Indo-Canadian Co-Production, Love Queen of Malabar, Toronto, Canada
Screening, WOW Film Festival, Is it too much to ask, Karachi, Pakistan
Screening, Annual Festival of Films on Freedom of Expression, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, White Van Stories, Delhi, India
Screening, 100% Manusia Film Festival, Jakarta, Is it too much to ask, Indonesia
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Acquisitions, Cinema Politica, Canada Tour, White Van Stories and Is it too much to ask, 2018
Runner up, Audience Award, Best Short, Berlin Feminist Week, Germany, Is It too much to ask, 2018
Nomination, Satyajit Ray Best Documentary Award, South Asian Film Festival, Kolkata, India, Is It too much to ask, 2018
Official Selection, Festival Des Cinemas Inidens de Toulose, France, Is It too much to ask, 2018
Producers Network, Cannes 2018
Official Selection, Is it too much to ask, Queer Asia Film Festival, British Museum, London, 2018
Official Selection, Is it too much to ask, Geneva International Queer Film Festival, 2018
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Best Documentary, Is it too much to ask, Singapore South Asian Film Festival, 2017
Jury Mention, Is it too much to ask, FSA, Kathmandu, 2017
Nominated for Best Asian Film, Seoul International Women Film Festival, South Korea, Is It too much to ask, 2017
Official Selection, MIC Genero / Mexico -Argentina - Cuba, South American Tour, Is It too much to ask, 2017
Official Selection, Seattle South Asian Film Festival, United States of America, Is It too much to ask, 2017
Opening Film, Philadelphia South Asian Film Festival, USA, Is It too much to ask, 2017
Official Selection, Jaffna International Film Festival, Sri Lanka, Is It too much to ask, 2017
Official Selection, Trans Diamond Film Festival, Bangalore, India, Is It too much to ask, 2017
Curtain Raiser, Chennai International LGBT Film Festival, India, Is It too much to ask, 2017
Official Competition, International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala, IDSFFK, India, Is It too much to ask, 2017
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Emmy Award for Best Travel Series, Wonder Women, Line Producer, Hall Mark TV, USA, 2016
Artist in Focus, Kerala Literature Festival, Kozhikode, 2016 &17
Selection Jury, IFFK, Kerala, 2016
Official Selection, Co-Production Pitch, NFDC Film Bazaar, Goa, India, The Sunshine, 2016
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“Woman of the Year"Femina Award for Literary Contribution, India, 2015
Filmmaker in Focus, Aljazeera International Documentary Film Festival, White Van Stories, Qatar, 2015
Artist in Focus, Singapore Literature Festival, Mumbai, 2015
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National Lambda Award for Poetry by LGBT Non-Profit Groups, India, 2014
Official Selection Co-Production Pitch, Docedge, Kolkata, India, Rape Nation, 2014
Writer in Focus Gateway Literature Festival, Mumbai, 2014 & 2015
Official Selection Co-Production Pitch, Docedge, Kolkata, Is it too much to ask, 2014
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Official Selection Nepal Human Rights Film Festival, Nepal, Ballad of Resistance, 2013,
Official Selection Signs Film Festival, Kochi, Kerala, India, Ballad of Resistance, 2013,
Official Selection Vibgyor Film Festival, Thrissur, Kerala, India, Ballad of Resistance, 2013
5th Edition Du Festival International de Films, "Pecheurs du Monde", France, Sengadal / The Dead Sea, 2013
Rare Picks at Hundred years of Indian Cinema Package Sengadal / The Dead Sea, 2013
Official Selection, The International Film Festival Puebla (FICPuebla), Sengadal / The Dead Sea, Guatemala & Mexico, 2013
Artist in Residence University of Chicago, 2013
International Association of Women in Radio & Television (IAWRT) Fellowship Ballad of Resistance, 2013
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Charles Wallace Artists Fellowship, Visual Ethnography, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 2012
Official Korean Premeire, International Women Film Festival, South Korea, Sengadal / The Dead Sea, 2012
Official Taiwan Premeire, International Women Film Festival, Taipei, Sengadal / The Dead Sea, 2012
NAWFF Award Premieres at International Women Film Festivals at Israel and Beijing, Sengadal / The Dead Sea, 2012
A Panorama of Indian Contemporary Cinema , Auroville, Pondicherry, India, Sengadal / The Dead Sea, 2012
Melting Point of Indian Cinema, Directorate of Film Festivals, New Delhi, India, Sengadal / The Dead Sea, 2012
Jury, International Women Film Festival, Seoul, 2012
Public Sector Broadcasting Trust Film Fellowship , India, Pennaadi, 2011-12
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Indian Panorama Selectionsfor 2011 – Sengadal / The Dead Sea
World Premiere, International Competition, 32nd Durban International Film —Festival, South Africa, Sengadal / The Dead Sea, 2011
Official Selection, First Film Competition, 35th World Montreal Film Festival, Canada, Sengadal / The Dead Sea, 2011
Official Competition, International Competition, Mumbai Film Fest, MAMI, India, Sengadal / The Dead Sea, 2011
NAWFF Award for Best Asian Women Cinema, Sengadal / The Dead Sea, Tokyo, 2011
Official Selection, World Cinema, International Film Festival of Kerala IFFK, India, Sengadal / The Dead Sea, 2011
Chithrabharathi Competition, Bangalore International Film Festival, India, Sengadal / The Dead Sea, 2011
Screening, Unite End Violence International Film Festival. Johannesburg, South Africa, Sengadal / The Dead Sea, 2011
Opening Film, International Film Festival of Thrissur, India, Sengadal / The Dead Sea, 2011
Closing Film, Samsung International Women Film Festival, Chennai, India, Sengadal / The Dead Sea, 2011
Sirpi Literary Award for Tamil Poetry, Tamilnadu, India, Parathaiyarul Raani, 2011
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Global Film Initiative Grant Sengadal / The Dead Sea, 2010
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Iyal Award for Poetry, Toronto, Canada, Ulagin Azhagiya Muthal Penn, 2009
Official Selection , Birds Eye View Film Festival, London, Goddesses, 2009
Official Selection , Belgrade Documentary Film Festival, Goddesses, 2009
Commonwealth Fellowship, Women in Cinema, United Kingdom, 2009
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Official Selection, International Competition, Tri Continental Film Festival, South Africa, Goddesses, 2008
Official Selection, International Factual Competition, Roma Fiction Film Festival, Rome, Goddesses, 2008
Official Selection, National Competition, International Video Film Festival of Kerala, Goddesses, 2008
Golden Conch for Best International Documentary in Mumbai International Film Festival, Goddesses, 2008
Visiting Filmmaker Fellowship, Berlinale, 2008
Nomination to Horizon Award, Munich International Film Festival, Goddesses, 2008
Nomination - Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Brisbane, Goddesses, 2008
One Billion Eyes National Award - Best Documentary, Goddesses, 2008
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Jury Award for Best Cinema of Resistance, Goddesses, John Abraham National Award, Trivandrum, 2007
Premiere, A Hole in the Bucket, Stockholm Water Symposium, Sweden, 2007
Mention, IAWRT International Documentary Film Competition, Goddesses, Women Building Peace, Nairobi, Kenya, 2007
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International Jury in Asian Film Festival, Malaysia, 2006
Official Selection, Waves After Waves, Yamagata International Film Festival, Japan, 2006
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Spice of Life - EU India Experience, Connecting Lines, University of Tampere, Finland, 2005
Best Actor and Best Experimental Video, Love Lost, in Independent Art Film Festival, 2005
Best Documentary in Paris and Norway Independent Diaspora Festivals, Mathamma, 2005
Retrospective, International Democratic Socialist Youth Film Festival, Venezuela, 2005
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Retro - Ethnographic Montages, Mathamma-Parai-Break the Shackles, Chicago Women in Director's Chair International Film Festival, 2004
Vikalp Films for Freedom, Parai, Mumbai, India, 2004
Silver Trophy for the Best Documentary, Mathamma, in Europe Movies Film Festival, 2004
European Union Film Fellowship, Media and Conflict Resolution, Thomson Media Foundation University of Cardiff, UK, Connecting Lines, 2004
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Official Selection, Mathamma, CDIT International Documentary Film Festival, Trivandrum, India, 2003