Leena Pendharkar is an award-winning writer and director.  Her feature film debut, Raspberry Magic, about a young girl’s connection to nature, has screened in over 20 film festivals, and was called “heartwarming with a strong crossover appeal” by Variety.  It also received the Audience Award at the Philadelphia Asian American film festival, and will be released theatrically and via amazon VOD later this year.  The film is is repped by Cinetic Rights Media.  Leena’s new screenplay, Dandekar Finds Home, about a day in the life of a retiree searching for a car his daughters have traded away, was recently selected for the Film Independent Screenwriter’s Lab, and is in active development. 

Pendharkar's short films have also screened widely and won a number of awards, including First Prize/Best Short at the Kansas City Filmmakers’ Jubilee for Lesa Terry and the Women’s Jazz Orchestra, First Prize at EarthVision film festival and a Bronze Award at WorldFest Houston for My Narmada Travels. That film also aired on Current TV. Her narrative short, This Moment, about an interracial couple at a crossroads in their relationship, screened widely on the festival circuit from the Hamptons to Harlem and Ojai, and sparked a controversial debate about interracial dating on sepiamutiny.com, a leading arts/culture blog.