Join us for this month’s virtual NYWIFT Member Screening of the narrative feature C/O Kancharapalem, produced by and starring NYWIFT member Praveena Paruchuri. The film weaves together several multi-generational love stories in the small town of Kancharapalem, India.
Watch the film: Any time Thursday, July 22 at 3 PM through Monday, July 26 at 11:59 PM
Join the Q&A: Monday, July 26, at 5 PM ET
Cost to attend: FREE for NYWIFT members; $2 for non-members
Please register in advance in order to receive the links.
The NYWIFT Member Screening Series provides members with the opportunity to show their work in a theatrical setting (or in this case, a virtual theatrical setting). We hope you will join us in celebrating the work of our talented NYWIFT members!
Please note: if you would like to “bring” a guest, the guest must be registered separately with a separate email address – links to view the films are individually crafted for each registered email.
About the Film
C/O Kancharapalem
Maha Venkatesh (Director)
Praveena Paruchuri (NYWIFT member, Producer, Actor, Financier)
Dramedy
2018, 2 hr 31 min
Raju, is a happy go lucky middle aged man living in the small town of Kancharapalem, India. His life is turned upside down when he is challenged by his village elders to get married, as they suspect he may be gay, or be ex-communicated. Raju’s story is set in the backdrop of three other love stories: the puppy love of Sundaram for his classmate Sunita; the hot-headed Joseph and his love for the dancer Bhargavi; and the sensitive Gaddam and his love for the prostitute Saleema (played by NYWIFT member Praveena Paruchuri).
C/O Kancharapalem was one-of-a-kind in the studio- and star-driven South Indian film industry. Independently produced by Paruchuri, it was shot on location with all of the cast of 80 “actors” selected from the residents of the village itself after a month-long workshop. It premiered at the NYIFF in May 2018 and won the Critics Choice Film Award for Best Film in Mumbai, India in April 2019. Paruchuri was also nominated for a FilmFare award for Best Supporting Actress.
The film is presented in Telugu with English subtitles.
Panelists
Praveena Paruchuri is New York cardiologist with a love, perhaps an obsession, for film. Initially interested in pursuing a career in filmmaking, she balanced her pre-medical studies with courses at NYFA and worked as a gaffer in Hollywood. However, due to family pressures she ultimately became a physician. Years later, she took her life savings and went to India – a country she hadn’t been to since her summers as a child, to make a realistic and entertaining Telugu film. Her maiden effort resulted in the path breaking C/O Kancharapalem and she was able to get the biggest distributors of South India films to release it in over 125 theaters in India and 99 theaterss in US. It was a commercial and critical success much to the surprise of the Telugu film industry. Motivated by its reception she took a hiatus from medicine and stayed in India to produce and act in her second film Uma Maheshwara Ugra Roopasya, this time collaborating with the producers of the biggest film to come out of India – Baahubali. Due to COVID- 19, the film is awaiting release. She’s now focusing her efforts in crossing over to the US to ultimately bring South Indian films to the international arena as Parasite has done for South Korean films.
Katie Chambers (moderator) is the Community Engagement Director at NYWIFT, where she manages Communications and Membership. She received regional recognition for her work at NYWIFT from the New York Society of Association Executives with their “Rising Star” award at the Synergy Awards in 2020, and will receive national recognition when she is named one of Association Trends’ top “Young and Aspiring Executives” at their Salute to Excellence in Washington, DC, in 2021. Prior to joining the NYWIFT team, Katie was a talent agent in the Youth & Young Adult Theatrical division at Abrams Agency in New York City. She has served on the Next Generation Committee of the NY Television Festival, produced a critically-acclaimed play at the NY Fringe Festival, and has worked for Buchwald, Manhattan Theatre Club, and Scott Rudin Productions. Her writing has appeared in Huff Post, Honeysuckle Magazine and several printed essay collections. Katie graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude from Drew University with a double major in English and Theatre Arts.
The NYWIFT Member Screening Series is produced by Katie Chambers
Special thanks to Carlina Rivera and the New York City 2nd Council District
for discretionary funding for the NYWIFT Member Screening Series.
Virtual Member Screening
Watch the film on Vimeo and Q&A on Zoom.
Please register to receive links.
membership@nywift.org
Join the conversation on social media:
#nywift | @nywift
NYWIFT programs, screenings and events are supported, in part, by grants from New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.
