Leeches

Raisa lives with her Ammi and three younger sisters in Hyderabad's Old City. When Ammi promises her 13-year old daughter, Zainab, in marriage to a foreign businessman, Raisa decides that she must save her little sister. In a custom that has found new roots among poor families in Muslim ghettos, rich patrons pay for an arrangement brokered by efficient agents, while a pliant cleric draws up both marriage and divorce contracts simultaneously, so that the businessman is free to end the sham union whenever he is ready to leave the city. Desperate to find a way out for Zainab, Raisa hatches a dangerous and irreversible plan involving an archaic remedy that promises to restore a girl's virginity. CBFC A (VIS/3/93/2016-MUM) Awards: Grand Prix Internationale, Brussels Short Film Festival Audience Award – Seoul International Women’s Film Festival Best Performance in a Short Film - Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles Best Short Film - Global Voices Film Festival (UN Women Initiative) Best Film from Dhow Countries – Zanzibar International Film Festival Best Short Film – Indian Film Festival of Stuttgart Special Jury Award – SiGNS Festival, Kochi Audience Award, 22nd Florida South Asian Film Festival ​Festivals:​ Bengaluru International Film Festival Tampere Film Festival, Finland Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) Brussels Short Film Festival New York Indian Film Festival Global Voices Film Festival (UN Women Initiative) International Film Festival of South Asia (IFFSA) Seoul International Women's Film Festival (Asian Film & Video Competition) Palm Springs International ShortFest Zanzibar International Film Festival Durban International Film Festival International Documentary & Short Film Festival of Kerala Indian Film Festival of Stuttgart Jahorina Film Festival, Bosnia & Herzegovina SiGNS Festival, Kochi Dharamshala International Film Festival Sapporo International Shortfest Thessaloniki International Short Film Festival Women Make Moves Film Festival, Taiwan Indian Film Festival The Hague 22nd Florida South Asian Film Festival South Asia Film Festival (FFAST) Paris 3rd i San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival Hawaii International Film Festival Florence River to River Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival Athena Film Festival