Four filmmakers of Indian descent — Andrea Drepaul, Kavita Parekh, Priyanka Shailendra and Gayatri Everitt Bajpai — have won the 2025 Tasveer Film Fund (TFF) grants, with each receiving $35,000 for making films around untold South Asian stories.
Each winning filmmaker will also receive a year-long mentorship, supporting their journey from script to screen, according to a media release from Seattle-based Tasveer (meaning ‘picture’ in Hindi & Urdu).
Now in its sixth year, the Tasveer Film Fund, backed by Netflix, supports groundbreaking original, narrative short films that that center around the perspective of untold South Asian stories.
The program aims to recast the harmful labels given to South Asians in the wake of 9/11 attacks by providing a glimpse into their lives through film, art, and storytelling.
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“These filmmakers are telling stories that are fearless, intimate, and deeply human,” said Rita Meher, Tasveer Co-Founder and Executive Director. “With Netflix’s unwavering support, we’re helping amplify the future of storytelling.”
2025 Tasveer Film Fund Winners
Andrea Drepaul for Rising Tide: When a pregnant Indo-Guyanese Canadian woman is faced with her long-absent father, the confrontation leads to consequences both physical and metaphysical.
Kavita Parekh for Mother Tongue: When Alzheimer’s sufferer Amanat loses her grasp of English, her daughter Meera struggles to care for her in Punjabi — and faces losing the closest relationship in her life.
Priyanka Shailendra for Petticoat: After unraveling in front of her entire family, a young South Asian woman makes a disturbing bid for self-reclamation by pinning her sari into her own flesh.
Gayatri Everitt Bajpai for Wellness: When two sisters crash a silent retreat to serve their father divorce papers, they find themselves at odds with his newfound serenity — and with one another.
The Tasveer Film Fund jurors included leading media production executives: Bilal Sami (Executive Producer, Madoxy Media), Ramfis Myrthil (Founder, Ramfis Productions), Nekissa Cooper (Board President, Chicken & Egg Pictures), Smriti Mundhra (Founder, Meralta Films) and Anushree Shukla (Actor & Associate Director, Tasveer Film Market).
Founded by Rita Meher, the Film Fund is managed by Uzma Khan and Anushree Shukla.
Past recipients have premiered at global film festivals and secured distribution deals. The 2025 winning films will premiere at the Tasveer Film Festival in Seattle in October 2026.