Parched

Parched, written and directed by Leena Yadav and produced by Ajay Devgn, follows four women in a desert village in Rajasthan and Gujarat confronting child marriage, dowry, marital rape, and patriarchal abuse. Yadav researched the script by personally interviewing rural women whose lives resembled the characters', and assembled an international crew that included Titanic cinematographer Russell Carpenter; some villages refused to let the woman led production film there, fearing it would corrupt the locals. The film premiered in the Special Presentations section at TIFF 2015 and won more than thirty international honors, including the Grand Jury and Audience Awards at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. Who it's for: anyone drawn to an award winning drama grounded in real interviews with women, confronting patriarchal oppression in rural India directly. Who it's not for: viewers wanting a light, easily resolved story, since the film treats abuse and oppression with hard realism.