Pratibha Parmar
Pratibha Parmar is a British writer and filmmaker. She makes feminist documentaries such as Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth and My Name Is Andrea.
Early life and education
Parmar was born in Nairobi, Kenya, to Indian parents; when she was 11 years old her family moved to the United Kingdom. She received a B.A. degree from Bradford University and attended Birmingham University for postgraduate education. Parmar's feminism was influenced by writers such as Angela Davis, June Jordan, Cherríe Moraga, Barbara Smith, Alice Walker, Audre Lorde, and Gloria Anzaldúa.Career
In her 1991 film Khush, Parmar examined the world of South Asian lesbians and gay men in the United Kingdom and India, using a mix of documentary footage and dramatized scenes.The documentary Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth is about the life of author and activist Alice Walker, whom Parmar met in 1991 via June Jordan and Angela Davis. Walker and Parmar also collaborated on Warrior Marks, a documentary about female genital mutilation. They then released a book, also entitled Warrior Marks.
In 2022, Parmar released her documentary My Name is Andrea, about feminist writer Andrea Dworkin.
Parmar has also made music videos for Morcheeba, Tori Amos, and Midge Ure.
Awards and recognition
- 1993: Frameline Award
- 1995: Trikone Pink Peacock Award
- 2016: BBC's 100 Women
''Khush''
- 1991: Frameline Film Festival Audience Award for Best Documentary Short
- 1992: Créteil International Women's Film Festival Public Prize for Best Foreign Film
Selected works
Film
Khush A Place of Rage Nina's Heavenly Delights Alice Walker: Beauty in TruthWriting
- "Pocket Sized Venus" in Femmes of Power: Exploding Queer Femininities, Del LaGrace Volcano and Ulrika Dahl. Serpent's Tail, 2008.Warrior Marks, co-authored with Alice Walker. Harcourt/Jonathan Cape, November 1993.Queer Looks: An Anthology of Writings about Lesbian and Gay Media, co-edited with Martha Gever & John Greyson. Routledge, October 1993.
- "Perverse Politics", in Feminist Review No. 34, 1991.
- "Challenging Imperial Feminism with Valerie Amos", in Feminist Review, 1984. Reprinted in Feminism & Race, Oxford University Press, 2000.