Ava DuVernay‘s ARRAY Releasing has acquired two films from South Asian female directors Agam Darshi and Sujata Day.
The distribution company has announced that Day’s Definition Please and Darshi’s Donkeyhead will debut on Netflix Jan. 21 in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Tilane Jones, ARRAY president, said the company is “proud” to distribute the films to a wider audience.
“ARRAY Releasing is proud to distribute the work of Sujata Day and Agam Darshi, two promising South Asian women filmmakers who both wrote, directed and star in their directorial debuts,” said Jones. “Definition Please and Donkeyhead beautifully showcase the dynamic talent of their creators while sharing the oftentimes humorous dynamics of tradition and culture that film lovers of all kinds can relate to, appreciate and celebrate.”
Day and Darshi write and star in both films as well as direct. Day, who originally starred in Issa Rae’s The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl and Insecure, stars in Definition Please as a former spelling bee champion who has to find her way through adulthood and familial drama as she takes care of her sick mother (Anna Khaja) and reconnects with her estranged brother (Ritesh Rajan). The film also stars Lalaine, Jake Choi and LeVar Burton. The film is produced by Rajan, Cameron Fife, Datari Turner, and executive produced by Hiren C. Surti, Ahmad Cory Jubran, Rey Cuerdo, Dan Evans III, Mindy Kaling, Lamont Magee and Deric A. Hughes.
Darshi stars as Mona in Donkeyhead, a Punjabi term of endearment parents use for their children. Mona is a failed writer who takes care of her ailing Sikh father. Her life of isolation abruptly ends after her father has a stroke, leading her three more successful siblings to arrive wanting to take control. The film stars Kim Coates, Sandy Sidh, Stephen Lobo, Huse Madhavji, Marvin Ishmael, and Balinder Johal. Darshi can be seen next in DuVernay’s upcoming HBO Max series DMZ.