Puthirai vannaar is an ‘unseeable’ Dalit caste group, in southern India. Their forced-occupation is to wash clothes of other Dalits, the dead and the menstruating women. This film is a tale about a young girl and her tribulations who grew up in an “unseeable” dalit caste group, how she reached her apotheosis and is now forever etched as their local deity, Maadathy.
Nobodies do not have Gods; they are Gods.
World Premiere, Busan International Film Festival, October 2019
India Premiere, International Competition, Kolkata International Film Festival, November 2019
Latin American Premiere, Cartagena de Indias International Film Festival - FICCI, March 2020
Asian Competition, Third Eye Asian Film Festival, December 2019
Inaugural Film, Panchajanyam International Film Festival, 2020
FIPRESCI Jury Award, Golden Kailasha for Best Film, Best Actress and Best Cinematography Awards, Aurangabad International Film Festival, 2020
International Narrative Features Competition, Herat International Women Film Festival, Afghanistan, 2020
Official Competition, Jaffna International Film Festival, Srilanka, 2020
Special Screening, Colombo International Women's Film Festival, SriLanka, 2020
North American Premiere, 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; and Vancouver International South Asian Film Festival (VISAFF),Vancouver
Finalist, Les Rimbaud du Cinema Awards, France, 2020
Official Competition, Regina International Film Festival, Canada, 2021
Official Competition, Ottawa Indian Film Festival, Canada, 2021
Inaugural Film, Wench Film Festival, Mumbai, India, 2021
Invitation Screening, IView World Human Rights Film Festival, New Delhi/New York, 2021
Top 20 Films Nominations, FIPRESCI- India Grand Prix Awards, 2020