Indian American Filmmaker is Finalist of HBO’s 5th Annual Asian Pacific American Visionaries
- Urvashi Pathania’s short film “Unmothered” is among three films showcasing cinematic storytellers of Asian and Pacific Islander descent.
Indian American filmmaker Urvashi Pathania is among three finalists of HBO’s fifth annual Asian Pacific American Visionaries, a short film competition that showcases cinematic storytellers of Asian and Pacific Islander descent. “The finalists were selected from hundreds of submissions and were judged by a panel of HBO executives, industry leaders, and fellow APA filmmakers,” reported The Wrap.
The APA Visionaries competition was created by HBO in 2016 to provide a platform for Asian Pacific American stories to “further the dialogue about representation in Hollywood and the importance of diversity in entertainment,” according to a press release.
Pathania’s “Unmothered” follows an Indian American woman who is forced to go back to “the old country” to scatter her mother’s ashes. There, she uncovers more about the family she took for granted and the secrets they hold close to them.
A Los Angeles, California-based writer and director, Pathania is currently part of Lena Waithe’s Writers’ Lab, as per the website. Earlier this year, she was selected for the Google Assistant Storytelling Fellowship in partnership with The Black List. Her pilot script, “TAJ MAHAL RESTAURANT,” was recommended and tweeted by The Black List. She received her B.A. with Honors in Film Studies from Columbia University and her M.F.A. in Film Production from USC.
The other two finalists are Jessi Gi, for “Neh,” centered on a young Korean American on a date, who attempts to hide an embarrassing secret; and Jess X Snow, for “Little Sky” about a non-binary Chinese-American drag star who returns to their home town to confront their estranged father.
The finalists’ films will premiere during the 2021 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival on Sept. 25, as well as on HBO Max on Sept. 27.