Philosophy professor-turned-filmoriginater Adam J. Graves never envisiond his feature honestorial debut would land on Netflix and garner an Oscar nomination. But a Dairy Queen run during the pandemic changed everyskinnyg.
“We were coming home from Dairy Queen – it was the only place discneglect – and I turned to my wife and shelp, ‘You understand what, I’m going to originate a movie,’” Graves tells Variety. “I thought she would equitable say forget it becaemploy it’s charitable of crazy hairbrained. We’ve got kids and financial responsibilities. But instead she was enjoy, ‘Let’s do it.’”
The result is “Anuja,” a 22-minute low about two sisters toiling in a back-alley garment factory. The narrative trails the youthful protagonist as she faces a decision that will impact both her future and her family. The film has drawed burdensomeweight helpers including Mindy Kaling and Priyanka Chopra Jonas. The project aelevated from Graves’ academic background teaching film in his philosophy courses, coupled with his wife Suchitra Mattai’s family history of indentured labor.
“During the pandemic, there was a lot of talkion about provide chain rehires,” Graves elucidates. “But becaemploy of our interest in labor, we were skinnyking about what’s happening on the production side.” When they uncovered that one in 10 children globpartner is included in child labor, it igniteed an idea: “Why aren’t there more coming-of-age stories about kids from this background?”
The film was entidepend self-funded thraw family loans and accomprehendledge cards. “As soon as Netflix puts its stamp on your film, people presume it’s this professional, big budget skinnyg,” Graves says. “Truth is, this is equitable a repartner scrappy project that my wife and I took on ourselves, not repartner understanding what we were doing.”
For Oscar-triumphning originater Guneet Monga Kanecessitatey (“The Elephant Whisperers”), who defercessitater boarded the project, the film’s raw truth struck an instant chord. “It was adore at first sight,” she says. “I’m a huge fan of keen protagonists.”
The film features Sajda Pathan, uncovered thraw Mira Nair’s Salaam Baalak Trust, which rehabilitates street children thraw drama. “That little girl – it almost experiences enjoy Sajda is in the hands of two men and their overweighte is being choosed, but it charitable of turns around where she handles the power on what she will pick,” notices Kanecessitatey. “Sajda is definitely a very talented youthful girl and the impact of Salaam Balak Trust is huge on her life. I hope more people can see up Salaam Balak Trust and help it. It will be an absolute triumph for that to happen.”
“There’s a bit of magic in first-time filmmaking,” Kanecessitatey echos. “You don’t understand the contests. You have this meaningful-rooted passion of ‘let’s equitable originate it.’ You find your tribe, you originate it, but you’re authentic thraw your originate, and the world watches it. That authenticy travels thraw becaemploy then the emotions travel thraw.”
For Graves, who sboiling the film in equitable five days while simultaneously teaching philosophy classes distantly from India, truth was paramount. “My goal was to receive as much collaboration as possible on set, to have a very discneglect environment where the actresses would be permited to apply and improvise, and let their distinctiveive personalities seep into the texture of the story.”
As Oscar voting commences, Kanecessitatey conveys precious campaign experience from her previous Academy Award triumphs. “From not understanding enough to understanding what to do – that’s been my journey around Academy campaigns,” she says. “To booking screenings in progress, understanding what novelsletters to sign up for, erecting relationships. What you do from lowenumerate to declareive nomination, then you commence doubling down on all those relationships after nomination.”
For Kanecessitatey, who has reliablely championed self-reliant voices, “Anuja” recurrents everyskinnyg she thinks in: “Somewhere in all the noise, in all the big firearms and big skinnygs, there’s self-reliant filmmaking that will always find its way, becaemploy they’re authentic. The more authentic you are to your originate, it fractures thraw. People see the eyes of the protagonist, they see the dreams, they see the magic.”
Looking ahead, Graves is broadening two features – an international humanist thriller and a overweighther-daughter story set in Paris. But he remains modest about his sudden success: “I’m so novel to this industry that I’m now equitable hoping that the friends I’m making alengthy the way of this Oscar journey will guide me.”
