Yellow Bus

Yellow Bus

Director: Wendy Bednarz

Cast: Tannishtha Chatterjee, Amit Sial, Kinda Alloush

Year Of The Film: 2023

Language: Arabic, English, Hindi, Tagalog, Urdu

Length: 1 hour 49 minutes

Premiere Status:

United States Premiere

Synopsis:

In the sweltering Arabian Gulf heat, Ananda’s dreams of a better life than the one she left behind in India are shattered after her child is forgotten on a school bus. Armed with the dead child’s ashes, she stands up against society’s ‘invisible’ caste, refusing the customary blood money and demanding accountability.

Bednarz’s debut fiction feature Yellow Bus is a unique collaboration between Jordanian producer Nadia Eliewat and Indian Oscar-winning producer Guneet Monga. Featuring an award-winning lead cast Tannishtha Chatterjee (“Brick Lane” and “Parched”), Yellow Bus showcases its transnational essence, using five different languages: Hindi, English, Urdu, Arabic, and Tagalog. The film was shot by the César winning Tunisian/French DOP Sofian El Fani ( “Timbuktu“, "Blue Is the Warmest Color”, “It Must Be Heaven”).

Director: Wendy Bednarz

Bednarz’s career began in NYC’s fashion industry, working for Stephen Sprouse in the old Andy Warhol Factory. There she developed a taste for the offbeat and a love of both still and moving images.

Wendy’s work engages multicultural narratives, crossing over between storytelling forms, film, photography, and video installations. Her work was screened and exhibited at venues worldwide, including NY MoMA, Montreal World Film Festival, and Venice Film Festival, garnering awards such as Cine Golden Eagle and Independent Film Award. She initiated the Syrian Children’s Storybook "The Pistachio Tree" (2019), traveling to Turkey where she worked with refugees to write and illustrate their own stories.

Wendy wrote/directed the featurette documentary Burning Money (2018) and several narrative shorts including Leaving Gussie (2007), On Crystal (2010), and Aurora (2000) – winner Palm Springs Short Film Festival. Yellow Bus (2023) is Wendy’s debut feature film.

Awards received:

Johannesburg International Film Festival, Best Film

Cinequest & Creativity Film Festival, Global Vision Award