# PS Vinothraj

P. S. Vinothraj (born 18 June 1988) is an Indian film director and a screenwriter. He wrote and directed the Tamil film, Pebbles (Koozhangal) which is also his debut film. Pebbles was screened at the 50th International Film Festival Rotterdam held in Netherlands on 4 February 2021, where it received the Tiger Award at the festival. It is the second Indian film to win this award. It was selected as the Indian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards, but was not nominated.

## Early life

Vinothraj's father died when Vinothraj was in class 4. He had to drop out of school and work in the flower markets of Madurai as a daily wage labourer. He went to Tiruppur at the age of 14 to work there in one of the town's textile factories. He joined a tutorial college and studied there for a couple of years. Eventually, seeing his fellow co-workers have their lives destroyed, he decided to leave the place and go to Chennai and work in cinema.

## Film career

Vinothraj was fascinated with cinema after seeing a film shooting when he was a child. In Chennai he got a job as an employee at a DVD shop. He worked there for five years and during that time he used to talk to various film directors and assistant directors and others working in cinema. He watched a lot of films, especially foreign films. He doesn't understand English and could not understand the subtitles in foreign language films, so eventually, he started watching visually-striking films that he could understand without subtitles.
He got work as an assistant director in some short films in the Nalaiya Iyakkunar TV Program using the contacts he got from working in the DVD shop. Later, he met A. Sarkunam, the Tamil film director whose films include Kalavani and Vaagai Sooda Vaa. He then went on to work as an assistant director in the Tamil feature film Manjapai (2013), directed by Raghavan and produced by Sarkunam. After working in that film, he felt he needed to learn more and so, he joined the post-modernistic theatre troupe Manal Magudi and worked there as an assistant director for two years.
Vinothraj made a short film, Subway, at this time on a shoe-string budget. The idea for Pebbles was based on what his sister told him about her treatment by her husband. Her family could not pay a dowry, so her husband threw her out and she had to walk almost 13 kilometres to her mother's house. The film was produced by Learn and Teach Productions. Vinothraj, along with his team, shot the film in around 37 days in the peak hours of sunlight during the noon as he wanted to capture the heat of the landscape.

## Filmography

Key :
| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
* All films are in Tamil, unless mentioned.
| Year | Film | Notes |
| 2021 | Pebbles | |
| 2024 | The Adamant Girl | |

## About the Adamant Girl

PS Vinothraj's recent film The Adamant Girl (Kottukkaali), written and directed by him, is produced by Sivakarthikeyan Productions LLP. The story centers around Meena, a young woman trapped in a stifling family dynamic, forced into an arranged marriage with Pandi while being in love with someone from a lower caste. The film is noted for its raw, unsentimental portrayal of societal structures, echoing the director's style from his debut feature Pebbles.
The film has received international recognition and awards, and had its world premiere at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival (2024), where it was screened in the Forum section.
The film has received Special Jury Award – 23rd Transilvania International Film Festival (Romania). Golden Lynx Award for Best Fiction – 21st FEST - New Directors New Films Festival (Portugal). Grand Prix Award for Best Feature Film – Amur Autumn International Film Festival (Russia)

## Awards and honours

Pebbles :
| Award | Category | Result |
| International Film Festival of Rotterdam | Tiger Award (Best Film) | Won |
| Academy Awards | Best International Feature | India's official entry |
| Film Independent Spirit Awards | Best International Feature | Nominated |
| ShorTS International Film Festival | Premio SNCCI (Jury Prize) | Won |
| Transilvania International Film Festival | Special Jury Award | Won |
| Golden Apricot International Film Festival | Golden Apricot Award (Best Film Award) | Won |
| Singapore International Film Festival | Best Director Award | Won |
| Dhaka International Film Festival | Best Film Award | Won |
| Black Movie Independent International Film Festival | People's Jury Award | Won |
| Asian Film Awards | Best New Director | Nominated |
| Asia Pacific Screen Awards | Achievement in Direction | Nominated |
| International Film Festival of Kerala | NETPAC Award, Special Jury Prize, Audience Award | Won |

### The Adamant Girl

| Award | Category | Result | Ref |
| 23rd Transilvania International Film Festival (ROMANIA) | Special Jury Award | Won | [26] |
| 21st FEST- New Directors/New Films Festival (PORTUGAL) | Golden Lynx Award for the Best Fiction | Won | [27] |
| Amur Autumn International Film Festival ( RUSSIA) | Grand Prix Award for best feature film | Won | [28] |
| Alternativa Film Festival (INDONESIA 2024) | Nativa Award | Won | [29] |