Interview with Director Adam J. Graves on Anuja

When we saw Anuja at Hollyshorts this past August we absolutely adored it and truly felt that it was a worthy choice for its qualifying win for Best Live Action Short. Since then our love for Anuja has grown, as we predicted it to make the shortlist in our December predictions. We love it's chances to make Oscar nominations even more now as it continues to gain steam by picking up Executive Producers Mindy Kaling, Priyanka Chopra and Guneet Monga Kapoor and being acquired by Netflix last week. This week Pedro was thrilled to chat with Director Adam J. Graves about the film as they discussed the casting of these two incredible young talents, the logistics of filming in India and a little bit of philosophy mixed in. Hit play below to hear the full interview and remember to keep an eye out to watch this one on Netflix, coming soon!
Anuja, dir. Adam J. Graves
Titular character, nine-year-old Anuja works with her older sister Palak in a back-alley garment factory in Delhi, India. We join the girls as Palak is telling Anuja a good night story their mom used to tell them, and we learn that for one reason or another the mother is no longer with them and the sisters are on their own living in poverty.
At the garment factory one day Anuja gets called in to the supervisor Mr. Verma’s office, where her school teacher Mr. Mishra has joined them. Mr. Mishra is disappointed that Anuja has not been attending school, and goes on to explain that she has a particular gift for learning. He presents her with a chance to attend boarding school, one that as he puts it “don’t usually take girls like…” before biting his tongue, and all she has to do is take the test the upcoming Tuesday morning.There is a slight issue though - the exam fee is ₹400 (roughly $5USD or £3.5) which is not a sum that Anuja can pay on her own.
Anuja is a heartwarming story of sacrifice and sisters supporting each other to climb their way out. It also at moments acts as a thrilling heist movie as they try to scrounge together enough cash to cover the exam fee.
Anuja was produced in partnership with the Salaam Baalak Trust (SBT), a nonprofit organization working to provide food, shelter and education to thousands of children living in the streets of New Delhi. Sajda Pathan who plays Anuja in the film is a resident of a SBT center and one of the children taken in by the foundation, adding a true layer of realism to the depiction. While the film is fiction, this is certainly the reality for many children worldwide as nearly one in ten children under the age of fifteen is subject to child labor. As the credits roll we see Sajda, together with the other children, watching the film for the first time at the SBT center.
The film finds brief moments of joy in the midst of the tough challenges of survival the two sisters face. Such as the playful retorts between them as Anuja practices her reading by checking out the contact ads in the local paper for her sister, or the childlike joy in their eyes as they come over a small sum of cash unexpectedly and make the decision to get snacks and go to the movies. And I think this mirrors much of what the organizations such as SBT is trying to achieve, a small glimmer of hope in a reality that can sometimes feel like endless darkness. One in ten is a huge statistic, but with films like these putting a spotlight on the issue we can all hope to shrink it down piece by piece.
Interview by: Pedro Lima
Review by: Robin Hellgren
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