| Eisha Marjara | |
| Birth Place: | Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada |
| Nationality: | Canadian |
| Education: | Concordia University |
| Occupation: | Film director, writer |
| Years Active: | 1994–present |
| Notable Works: | Desperately Seeking Helen |
| Website: | http://www.eishamarjara.com |
Eisha Marjara is a Canadian film director and writer. With a background in photography, Marjara has written and directed several award-winning films, including the feature documentary Desperately Seeking Helen (1998) and The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1994). Marjara's forthcoming feature film is titled Venus; it has yet to be released.
In addition to her film work, her photo series and essay on the bombing of Air India Flight 182, in which her mother and sister were killed, entitled "Remember me Nought" was featured in the fall 2013 issue of Descant magazine. Her debut novel, titled Faerie (Arsenal Pulp Press), received a star review in Publishers Weekly.
Marjara's 1998 National Film Board of Canada docudrama Desperately Seeking Helen received critical acclaim and brought her international recognition. The movie depicts Marjara on a journey to India, exploring her own Indian roots by following the career of acclaimed Bollywood movie star and vamp Helen Richardson Khan. The movie received the jury award of the Munich Documentary Film Festival in 2000 as well as the Prix de La Semaine Critique at the Locarno International Film Festival the same year.
Marjara's Canadian-German co-production The Tourist, a short film, had its first showing at the 24th Rendez-vous du Cinéma Québécois in 2006.[1]
Marjara is completing feature film Venus, a dramedy about a 30-something professional who transitions into a woman then discovers that she is the father of a fourteen-year-old boy. The film is produced by Joe Balass of Compass Productions Inc. and executive producer Kevin Tierney (Bon Cop, Bad Cop).[2]
Marjara is the daughter of father Dr. Harinder Singh Marjara, and mother Devinder.[3] She had two sisters, Seema and Amita.[4] She grew up in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, and she lived in Trois-Rivières, Sainte-Foy, and Montreal.[5] She attended Concordia University, enrolled in Communications Studies.[6]
Her mother and her sister, Seema, were killed in the bombing of Air India Flight 182;[7] they had been flying to visit relatives.[8] Seema had just graduated from Centennial Regional High School.[9] Eisha was not on board because she was being treated for anorexia nervosa, and her father was teaching a summer course at the time.[8] Both Eisha and Amita Marjara along with father Harinder were interview subjects of the 2008 documentary Air India 182.[4]
Marjara, along with her family, is Sikh.