2025 / 30' / Tamil / India
✦ Intersectional
Set in the bustling streets of Chennai, a story of grit, sisterhood, and a quiet mobility revolution, Auto Queens follows the rise of Tamil Nadu’s first women-led auto-rickshaw union, 'Veera Pengal Munnetra Sangam', with the friendship of Mohana and Leela Rani at its heart.
Mohana, the union’s president, stands at a pivotal moment. Her dream of building a thriving support system for women drivers comes with a weight she’s only beginning to grasp. At her side is Leela Rani, fellow driver, confidante, and friend. Their ways of dealing with daily systemic discrimination differ, even as their bond sets the foundation for something bigger than them.
Director(s) : Sraiyanti
Producer(s) : Mathivanan Rajendran, Sruti Lodha, Sarabhi Ravichandran, Shilpa Kumar
Cinematographer(s) : Prem Akkattu
Editor(s) : Sraiyanti
Cast : Leela Rani, Mohana
Sound : Raghav Ramesh
Sraiyanti is a cinematographer and director whose work blurs the line between observation and storytelling. Trained in cinematography at Bournemouth University, she brings a visual sensitivity shaped by her background in design and her roots in Tamil Nadu, where film and politics have long intersected. Shaped by the rise of authoritarian politics in India, her work sits at the intersections of caste, class, and gender. Drawing inspiration from the state’s rationalist movement, she makes non-fiction cinema that sparks reflection, conversation, and new ways of seeing.
Sraiyanti has directed Tambram Cooking, a non-fiction short which screened at New York Indian Film Festival and International Documentary & Short Film Festival of Kerala in 2023. Her work as a cinematographer include the feature films Gargi and Detective Ujjwalan, and a short film, The Feast, directed by Rishi Chandna, which won the Special Jury Prize at Clermont-Ferrand Int’l Short Film Festival in 2024.
