With Sundance + Women In Film Financing Fellow Nihaarika Negi
Feral means ‘to exist in a wild state, especially after domestication/captivity.’ A fitting title for Sundance + Women In Film Financing Fellow Nihaarika Negi’s latest film: a horror folktale about two Indian maidservants who transgress against their abusive British Madame – taking over the house and reclaiming their lost mystical selves.
The film evokes the spirit of Dr. Estes seminal book, Women Who Run With Wolves, using the mythic structure of folklore to summon the wild woman archetype.
International writer/producer, Nihaarika (THE THRESHOLD, THE HOUSEMAIDS), whose impressive work has been supported by Venice Film Festival Development Labs, UK Arts Council, French Ministry of Culture – CNC, NYIFF, NFDC Labs, Amazon Prime, Disney’s Hotstar – has long been interested in this subject matter.
She says, “As South-Asian women, we’re raised to tame our primal selves to fit restrictive gender norms. When that sustained oppression intersects with race, class, colonial trauma – it causes a rupture to occur through our bodies. I’m interested how this visceral experience can be made visible through the structure of folklore/horror films.”
Produced through Autotelic Pictures (LA), the film is scheduled for a 2021 shoot. With Nihaarika as lead writer/producer backed by Sundance + Women In Film,and the project’s timely subject matter – FERAL is surely geared for success.
