Shruti Parekh
Shruti Parekh is an award-winning writer, director, and editor who tells intimate stories of self-discovery and subversion. Her work spans narrative and documentary film, journalism, animation, and music videos.
Shruti was recently named in MovieMaker Magazine as one of Austin Film Festival’s 25 Screenwriters to Watch in 2025. Her most recent narrative short film, ZARI, was produced as a 2023 winner of the CAPE/Janet Yang Productions’ Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge. Since then, ZARI has won the Grand Jury and Audience Awards at NewFest as well as the Audience Awards at Inside Out Toronto and San Luis Obispo International Film Festival and is part of the NewFest/AMC+ Future of Film program. Shruti’s previous short film, ESPERANZA, played in over 20 film festivals around the world and won four awards. Shruti’s newest narrative short, HOMEBODY, was a recipient of the 2024 NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music, and Theatre and has just been completed. Shruti is currently directing a documentary project about the work of author and activist Valarie Kaur and her collaborators.
Previously, Shruti worked as a video journalist for Gizmodo Media Group and produced, shot, and edited award-winning social issue-focused news content that garnered millions of views, including the popular “Racist History” series. As a freelance filmmaker, Shruti has produced, directed, shot, and edited digital content for clients such as Food & Wine Magazine, NYLON, WIRED and many nonprofit organizations. Most recently, she edited online courses for Yellowbrick, including the very popular “This is Animation!” course from Sony Pictures Animation and Sony Pictures Imageworks.
Shruti got her start as the assistant to acclaimed director Mira Nair on her 2013 film The Reluctant Fundamentalist and as an Assistant Editor and Additional Editor on three award-winning feature documentaries. Shruti has also directed many music videos which have been featured on platforms such as Remezcla, Jezebel, Rolling Stone India, and 2DopeBoyz.
Shruti has a BA from Brown University and an MFA in Directing from UCLA. She is based in Brooklyn, NY.