El Carrito
Directed by:
Zahida Pirani
16 mins
Sunday, Nov 20, 2022
3:00 PM
Shorts Program 4
Nelly lives alone with her elderly father. The only way she makes ends meet is by working as a street vendor from dawn to dusk. Nelly has learned not to trust anyone until one day she is forced to take a leap of faith or be resigned to her position forever.
STUART Cinema & Café
About the Filmmaker
Zahida Pirani is a writer/director based in New York City and Los Angeles. Her short film, EL CARRITO (2021), was an official selection of SXSW, AFI FEST and won the Special Jury Prize at Seattle International Film Festival and Audience Awards at both the Palm Springs International ShortFest and Brooklyn Film Festival . Zahida previously directed and produced the award - winning short documentary JUDITH: PORTRAIT OF A STREET VENDOR which premiered at the Queens Museum in New York. She is the recipient of the 2021 Princess Grace Award in Film, the Jack Nicholson Distinguished Student Director Award and the Joel Siegel Fellowship. Before becoming a filmmaker, Zahida worked as a community organizer and was the director of a grassroots nonprofit organization in New York. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Film Directing at UCLA.