SCREENPLAYS

  • 'THE SCREAM OF THE BUTTERFLY' (narrative short)

    In the midst of a brutal revolution, an Iranian woman taken to an otherworldly prison with only her dismembered eye as a method of sight transforms into a symbol of hope and resistance against a totalitarian regime in a harrowing journey of defiance. Written by Anjini Taneja Azhar & Ariya Akhavan

    - Finalist, SoCal Screenplay Competition (2024)
    - Finalist, Film Pipeline Short Script Competition (2024)
    - Finalist, Filmmatic Screenplay Awards Season 9 (2024)
    - Silver Medal Winner, Let’s Make It Screenplay Competition (2024)
    - Semifinalist, Screencraft Film Fund (2024)
    - Semifinalist, Outstanding Screenplays Competition (2024)
    - Quarterfinalist, Screencraft Film Fund (2025)
    - Quarterfinalist, Filmmatic Pitch Now Competition Season 7 (2025)
    - Quarterfinalist, Hollyshorts Screenwriting Competition (2024)
    - Quarterfinalist, Filmmatic Sci-fi & Fantast Awards Season 2 (2024)

  • 'WHO ARE YOU, NANU?' (narrative short)

    After her grandfather’s (Nanu’s) ceremonial cremation brings her to the Holy Ganges River in India, ten year-old oddball Aisha befriends the phantom of her Nanu’s rambunctious seven year-old self and discovers the journey after death.

    - Grand Jury Award & Grant Winner, Shore Scripts (2023)
    - Top 1% discoverable on Coverfly
    - Finalist — Top 8, Raindance Script Competition (2023)
    - Finalist, WritersxWriters Competition (2023)
    - Finalist, Barnstorm Fest (2023)
    - Runner Up, Hollyshorts Screenplay Competition (2023)
    - Runner Up, Outstanding Screenplays Competition (2023)
    - Semifinalist, Screencraft Film Fund (2022, 2023, and 2024)
    - Semifinalist, Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition (2023)
    - Semifinalist, Cinequest Screenwriting Competition (2023)
    - Honourable Mention, The Finish Line Script Competition (2023)
    - Quarterfinalist, Big Apple Film Festival Screenplay Competition (2023)
    - Quarterfinalist, WeScreenplay Short Script Lab (2023)
    - Quarterfinalist, Filmmatic Short Screenplay Awards (2023)
    - Nominee, New Media Film Festival (2023)

  • 'OUR SINS' (feature)

    A young first-gen immigrant is pushed to extreme lengths hustling for a black-market pharmaceuticals dealer in order to afford his mother's life-saving medication.

    - Finalist, Bigfoot Script Challenge (2022)
    - Finalist, Golden Script Competition (2022)
    - Semifinalist, Big Apple Agents & Managers Lab (2022)
    - Honourable Mention, Finish Line Script Competition (2022)
    - Semifinalist, PAGE Awards (2022)
    - Semifinalist, Nashville Film Festival Screenplay Competition (2022)
    - Semifinalist, Flickers Rhode Island Film Festival Screenplay Competition (2021)
    - Semifinalist, Big Apple Film Festival Screenplay Competition (2022)
    - Quarterfinalist, Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition (2022)
    - Second Rounder, ScreenCraft Film Fund Spring (2022)
    - NFFTY Pitch Finalist (2022)
    - Quarterfinalist, Filmmatic Pitch Now Screenplay Competition Season 4
    - Quarterfinalist, Los Angeles Int’l Screenplay Awards (2021)
    - Quarterfinalist, Filmmatic Inroads Fellowship Season 5

  • MARTINA (narrative short)

    Before the beginning of what her dad hopes to be a better life away from her abuse, addict mother, eight-year old Martina embarks on one final journey to discover the raw worth of goodbyes. She closes the door on her broken home and charges into her bare-boned town, secretly crawling with life, with only a green glass bottle and the words of her father in her mind.

    - Quarterfinalist, Hollyshorts Screenplay Competition (2020)
    - Nominee, Los Angeles Int’l Screenplay Awards (2019)
    - Semifinalist, Big Apple Screenplay Competition (2019)
    - Semifinalist, Bahamas Film Festival Screenplay Competition (2019)