Paramita

PARAMITA is a poetic personal documentary bearing testament to the story of Prajna Paramita Choudhury, a first generaton South Asian American queer woman, as she comes out to her family and steps onto a spiritual journey that embodies Buddhist liberation practices, earth based mysticism and connection to nature as a pathway for collective healing. Prajna Paramita’s story mirrors the living questions: How do we honor and find bridges to our cultural traditions when our families reject us in our romantic (queer) love; How can we embody resistance, reclaim and take our place in a white-centering American system that teaches us to experience our own ancestral wisdom through a colonized lens. Told in a lyrical manner, re-imagined dreamspaces dance with “real” time and we walk walk with Prajna Paramita as she reclaims her queer brown body and experiences, finding her way towards collective healing and co-liberation. PARAMITA is directed and edited by Kirthi Nath.

PARAMITA, the film, the person, the energy is itself a transformation. For too long, the stories of people of color have been told by and for the white gaze. PARAMITA is decolonized storytelling, centering women of color. If we want to change our culture, we have to uplift new stories. Buddhism in the United States has been culturally appropriated and co-opted by people who do not understand its roots, and exploited by capitalism as a consumer product and lifestyle brand. Within this conversation, South Asian voices, and especially queer South Asian voices, have been erased and marginalized, even within Asian American stories. Culturally, this film is significant because it is a rare expression of embodied Buddhist teachings as told by people, main subject, Prajna Paramita Choudhury, and filmmaker, Kirthi Nath, both who have lived experiences as well as an ancestral connection to the wisdom lineages. WHO TELLS THE STORY MATTERS.

Your support will make a difference. We are proud to be a women identified crew, with a majority BIPOC and queer folx. Please consider making a contribution (in any amount). All donations made through this page are tax-deductible. Much Appreciation and may you be well.

Film Website: https://www.paramitafilm.com

Director and Editor: Kirthi Nath 

Producer: Cinemagical Media

Main Subject and Writer: Prajna Paramita Choudhury

Sound Designer / Sound Mixer: Vandana Ramakrishna

Cinematographer: Sarah Wells