Shruti Parekh is an Atlanta-bred, Brooklyn-based filmmaker and artist who tells intimate and incisive stories of life on the margins of society. Her award-winning work spans fiction, documentary, journalism, animation and visual art. ​ Her short film, Zari, is a coming-of-age tale about American-born Neelu who feels like a fish out of water amidst preparations for her sister’s wedding in Mumbai, until she forges a brief and unexpected connection with Zeyb, a quiet sari store clerk who leads a secret life as “Zari,” a beloved internet drag queen. It recent won the Grand Jury Award for New York Short Film & Audience Award for Best  Narrative Short at 36th Annual NewFest Film Festival In 2023, she won the CAPE/Janet Yang Productions Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge to direct her narrative short film "Zari" in Delhi, India. Shruti’s previous project as a writer/director, "Esperanza," won Best Narrative Short at the Portland Film Festival, Best Student Short at Ojai Film Festival, and Best Screenplay at Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival. Previously, Shruti’s issue-driven work as a digital video journalist at Gizmodo Media Group garnered millions of views. ​ As an editor, she has worked on award-winning documentaries and edited for clients such as Food & Wine, Vanity Fair, Elizabeth Arden, Chowhound, and Yellowbrick. Shruti got her start making music videos and working as an assistant to the acclaimed director Mira Nair on her 2013 film, “The Reluctant Fundamentalist.” Shruti has a BA from Brown University and an MFA in Directing from UCLA, where she received the Jack Nicholson Distinguished Student Director Award and the Edie and Lew Wasserman Film Production Fellowship. She is currently finishing her fourth short film, “Homebody.”