A talented swimmer, teenage Kanya aspires to pursue competitive swimming professionally. Her world collapses, however, when she gets her first period. Her family demands that she adapt to social norms, meaning she must give up this manly sport and accept a more demure feminine role. The film looks at Kanya’s natural maturing along with her physical and psychological transformation, aspects utterly neglected by those who are meant to care for her. Will she muster the courage to revolt against the system that wishes to define her? 

KANYA highlights the line that separates the place of many women in Indian society based on the onset of their menstruation. Although young girls can be relatively free in their behaviour, the shutter comes down sharply on them as soon as they start to menstruate. This sudden clampdown on social behaviour is meant to indicate to society at large that the child is now a woman and, as such, open to marriage offers. The film captures the inner dissonance Kanya experiences at this juncture in her life with stark, arresting visuals and an intimate lens.

This film is part of a special program entitled “Childhood on Edge”, curated by the legendary Uma da Cunha, who has been IFFLA’s Programming Advisor since the festival’s inception in 2002. The program features six films with diverse characters on the verge of the momentous transformation from childhood to adulthood. 

DIRECTOR

Born and raised in Chennai, Apoorva was fascinated by the power of Tamil filmdom in state politics, igniting a passion for creating films that are socially and politically aware. In 2016, she was selected to attend the International Filmmaking Academy in Bologna, under the tutorship of award-winning directors Danis Tanovic and Claudia Llosa. Apoorva recently received her MFA degree from the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts, Czech Republic. She is currently based in Prague, developing her debut feature film.