Poorna

Actor Rahul Bose gets behind the camera for the first time since his 2002 directorial debut Everybody Says I'm Fine! with this compelling and visually breathtaking drama taken from real life. On May 25, 2014, 13-year-old Malavath Poorna became the youngest woman ever to scale the heights of Mount Everest. An adivasi (indigenous) teen from southern India, Poorna comes from a very poor background but had the good fortune to attend a welfare school, escaping the fate of most girls of her class ("I'm a Power Girl, not a poor girl," is her personal refrain.) Selected as a symbol of the welfare school system, her accomplishment is nevertheless hard-won, through a grueling training regimen and by overcoming personal obstacles. (Palm Springs International Film Festival)