Rhode Island International Film Festival 2019 – A Sari for Pallavi
When traditional Thini & promiscuous Pallavi get into a culture clash, Pallavi has to decide between honoring the Indian traditions of her family or to stay true to her modern American identity.
Interview with Director Kate Chamuris
Watch A Sari for Pallavi here:
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I go to the movies to feel like I’m not alone. So that’s why I make movies. Growing up, there was a subconscious and sometimes not so subconscious, societal norm echoed to me, that I was meant to find a husband, get married and bare grandchildren. I come from a lineage of Catholic Puerto Rican on one side and Greek Orthodox Greek and Italian on the other. So entering my 30’s, single, with no intention to start a family, I was feeling like a disappointment to the long line of family makers that I came from. My identity felt tied to the expectations of those that had coupled off.
One day I was catching up with my friend Sunita Deshpande, whom I hadn’t seen since we had graduated The Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre NY together. She was talking about a ten-minute play she had written while attending a workshop at LAByrinth Theater Company. In the play, she was exploring some of the same feelings I was having about coupling off. I thought the story had the potential to touch a wider audience if we filmed it, so Sunita adapted the play for us to film and we decided to have her act both the characters.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
I wanted to find the vulnerability in the comedy of Sunita’s dialogue. When someone watches this, I want them to see themselves mirrored in one of these two characters and be able to not only laugh but know they are not going through this alone.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
The personal themes are seen through the Indian American and Traditional Indian specifics from Sunita’s upbringing and experiences. The universal themes are at the core of these personal specifics.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The story started as a ten-minute play that was a top ten finalist at the Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway play festival. The play’s script ends as Thini throws the bangles at Pallavi. For the shooting script, Sunita condensed some of the jokes, tightened up the beats and extended the end to have more of a resolution.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
We’ve had overwhelmingly positive feedback after screenings. All the laugh lines get laughs and then some.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
The most surprising part of the feedback is that it’s coming from not only women but also a lot of men from all walks of life. They come up to us after the screenings and say how much they connect to these characters.
The other pleasant surprise is that a handful of viewers have told me they don’t realize it’s Sunita play both roles.
For the feedback to be mirroring to me two of the biggest tasks I gave myself is pretty cool. My first task was to make the universal themes hit a wide variety of audience members and secondly, for the technical execution of capturing Sunita’s performance not to be distracting.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We appreciate how We Are Moving Stories focuses on inclusivity and the thematic impact your showcased movies have. Being written up in this publication allows us to be one step closer to having the film seen by the widest audience possible.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
We are coming to the end of our festival run so we will be looking for an online platform on which to screen. Once we find that home, having more journalists to help spread that we are streaming would be helpful.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
Laughs, introspection, laughs, a single tear, satisfaction.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Are you “Team Thini” or “Team Pallavi?”
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
As a producer, I’m helping to launch a production company called, Dream Three Films. It’s the brainchild of director, Jeremy Merrifield. We have a slate of three feature films and a handful of episodic content that we’re developing. Sunita finished an eight-episode arc of Marvel’s Daredevil Season 3 as Seema Nadeem. She is currently working fulltime as an actress in NYC while developing/writing a few television shows and plays.
Interview: August 2019
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
A Sari for Pallavi
When traditional Thini & promiscuous Pallavi get into a culture clash, Pallavi has to decide between honoring the Indian traditions of her family or to stay true to her modern American identity.
Length: 10:00
Director: Kate Chamuris
Producer: Tanmaya Shekhar
Writer: Sunita Deshpande
About the writer, director and producer:
KATE CHAMURIS’ recent work includes producing American Film Institute’s thesis films Miller & Son (dir. Asher Jelinsky; winner BAFTA student award for live-action short film), If This Is Wrong (dir. Chelsea Woods; Citizen Jane ‘18) and Balloon (dir. Jeremy Merrifield; Palm Springs International Shorts Fest ‘19). She also produced the AFI Directing Workshop for Women short, Unspeakable (dir. Milena Govich; SXSW ‘18) that serves as a proof-of-concept for a 60-min drama/thriller television series. Kate is a graduate of Marymount Manhattan College NY with a B.A. in Communication Arts: Advertising and Producing.
Key cast: Sunita Deshpande (Thini & Pallavi)
Looking for: distributors, journalists
Facebook: A Sari for Pallavi
Twitter: @SariForPallavi
Instagram: @sariforpallavi
Hashtags used: #shortfilm #asariforpallavi #sunitadeshpande #katechamuris #womeninfilm #motivationmonday #womendirectors #womenwriters #indianamerican @katechamuris @luckysunita
Other: IMDb
Funders: Indiegogo
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? "Rhode Island International Film Festival / Wednesday 6:35pm - Aug. 7 2019 (Unsung Voices - Shorts Package); BronzeLens Film Festival; Adirondack Film Festival; Elba Film Festival; Canadian Diversity Film Festival.