ABOUT WENCH FILM FESTIVAL
At Wench Film Festival, our intention is to showcase female filmmakers don’t just have the ability to tell origin stories but to go beyond normative roles, mediums, and genres to tell good stories. This is encapsulated in our tagline:
‘Shaping Perspectives By Shifting the Gaze.'
The 1st Wench Film Festival will be held between 6 and 14 March, commemorating the upcoming International Women’s Day on March 8, 2021. We hope to attract enthusiastic film lovers and filmmakers from all over the world. The festival is a mix of online screenings, panels, and Q&As to be held securely through our online partner MovieSaints.
Wench Film Festival will feature a bouquet of curated narrative and documentary features and shorts made by women. The festival will also feature live panel discussions (simulcast on Movie Saints, Facebook, and Youtube.)
WHY
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Prior to the 13th century, the term 'wench' referred to a young woman. Over time, the connotation changed from girl child to prostitute to racial slur. The goal of Wench Film Festival is to take back the ownership of the word Wench and return it back to it's orginal girl child status.
Our symbol- the three black dots is unique to Indian culture, where many womxn use it to enhance their beauty. In addition, it is also the Therefore sign in mathematics
Therefore, Wench Film Festival!
ABOUT THE FOUNDER
As a pioneer entrepreneur, Sapna Bhavnani founded the hair salon Mad-O-Wot 16 years ago in Bombay and changed the way Indian youth looked at themselves. Through her versatile avatars such as writing an intimate weekly column for a well-known publication, authoring a self-help book for teenage girls “Style-O-Wot,” launching the avant-garde clothing line “So Fake” and acting in 'Nirbhaya' – a searing testimonial play which won the Amnesty Freedom of Expression Award, The Fringe First Award and The Angel Herald Award in 2012 for cracking open the cone of silence around sexual and gender-based violence in India, Sapna Bhavnani is a voice to reckon with. She traverses mainstream success with as much ease as she skirts the underground youth art and culture movement. Ageless, Fearless, and Forever metamorphosing in her endeavours.
Sapna is best known as Producer/Director of her award winning documentary Sindhustan. Sindhustan started its festival journey in 2019 and is her first feature length documentary. It has won 9 Feature Documentary Awards and traveled to 21 festivals and is now streaming on MovieSaints.
Actor, hair stylist, writer, director, producer - Sapna embodies it all as a visionary and a change maker. In July 2020 she launched her production company called Wench Films to push feline talent primarily from India to the world. Currently she is in post-production with her feature My Dog is Sick and writing a book titled 'Chapter One' for Harper Collins. The rest, like they say is her story.
