Preet
A psychological drama about a newlywed Indian woman, Preet, who escapes the confines of her sexually abusive past and finds refuge in New York City through her childhood friend, Jugal, only to realise that there’s more than meets the eye.
Interview with Writer/Director Jayesh Jaidka
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
The main reason to make this short film is because it works as a proof of concept for my first directorial feature film, Preet. The topic that both the short and the feature film deal with are domestic and sexual violence against women and how it hampers their mental and psychological health. The idea took inception in 2020, during the pandemic, when I was working for UNICEF. My job entailed keeping track of current issues going around the world and scripting short documentaries and narrative films to make a difference in the world. This was when domestic violence and sexual violence against women quadrupled and WHO termed Gender Based Violence against women as a shadow pandemic.
This was when I knew I had to make a difference in society and wanted to make a change in society through my gift of film.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
The short film has a very mysterious tone to it and very appropriately showcases the experience of a South Asian woman in the United States. Why she's here, what she's doing and what her future holds is where the mystery is and if I say any further, I'll be giving out the film, haha! However, what I will say is you'll be hooked and will not be seeing the ending coming.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Preet is a journey of a sexual and domestic violence abuse survivor's life in the United States. This is a universal theme and the film also captures the experiences of an immigrant in the United States very accurately, while highlighting her personal struggles as a woman that relies on her male best friend in the United States.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The short film's script was derived from the feature film itself. The feature film happens to be a suspense thriller and has many subplots so when I decided to make a short film on the same subject, the major challenge was to keep the topic streamlined and only focus on one thing. I chose to depict Preet's mental and psychological health, which in turn helps in giving the audience the visual tone of the eventual feature film, since the feature film is seen from Preet's narrative.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
The feedback up till now has been all positive with the short film and also the subsequent feature film script. We were given credit for how sensitively we handled the subject and actually stirred up great conversations among viewers that subconsciously helped me and my co-writer a lot for the feature film script.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
I think the only recurring feedback that I, as a director and editor, had to really work on was about the film being 22 minutes. This was from a view group of 25 people in the production setup. So eventually, I cut the film to 16 minutes and everything from there was great.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
By having our film marketed on our platform, we will be able to share the larger message of the eventual feature film to the world and this article will also help most of our crew as they happen to be Internationals and any publications help them in their visa process.
Shout out to 2 of the most amazing women in the production that are up for renewal on their artist visas - Aranxta Ibarra and Manasvi Sharma.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
As of now for the feature film, we would like producers and sales agents BUT for the short film, we would like to meet more buyers, distributors and film festival directors.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
With this short film. I truly want to educate the audience about the pain and mental turmoil a survivor goes through. What it takes to live again and how hard it is for a woman that's gone through abuse to feel normal again.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Why do you need a feature film if a short film can share the same message? And I guarantee you will know the answer exactly once you read the feature film script.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Apart from Preet's feature film, I am also working on a TV series based on F4. Many people are attracted to the idea of F1 but not many know what it takes to get there. I think elaborating on that would be really interesting.
Interview: July 2023
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
Preet
A psychological drama about a newlywed Indian woman, Preet, who escapes the confines of her sexually abusive past and finds refuge in New York City through her childhood friend, Jugal, only to realise that there’s more than meets the eye.
Length: 16:30
Director: Jayesh Jaidka
Producer: Aranxta Ibarra
Writer: Jayesh Jaidka
About the writer, director and producer:
A Telly Award Winner and A Gotham Film and Television Institute alumni, JAYESH JAIDKA is currently leading his production company, The PillowTalk Productions, with an aim to provide cutting-edge production and post-production services, both in India and the United States. Jaidka's projects have garnered 18+ awards and had 50+ film festival screenings with distribution deals with streaming networks like Disney+, Hotstar, Shorts., MX Player, etc. With clients ranging from Civil Society organizations like UNICEF NY, UNICEF Rwanda, premiere universities like the School Of Visual Arts, and New York Film Academy; all the way to multiple conglomerate giants like Apple, Jayesh aims to generate a global name in the media industry by providing quality services in end to end production of narrative long and short-form content, documentaries, advertisements, music videos, Trailers and AV promos, and high-quality development services. Jaidka's TV show, Highbread is in development after having successful pitch meets with studios and companies to the likes of Warner Bros. Television, AMC Networks, Sundance TV, Sony International and production companies like Gunpowder & Sky, Anonymous Content and Topic studios, to name a few. Simultaneously, Jaidka has finished the proof of concept for his first directorial feature film, Preet, getting traction from all over the world with having pitch meets for the feature film for which he aims to build a unique film production model to form an alliance between the United States and India.
Arantxa Ibarra is known for The Juror (2021), Preet and Nothing Will Ever Be the Same.
Key cast: Manasvi Sharma, Manik Singh Anand, Jayesh Jaidka
Looking for: producers, filmfestival directors
Instagram: @jayesh_jaidka
Hashtags used:#preetshortfilm
Website: www.jayeshjaidka.net
Other: IMDb
Funders: Kickstarter
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?
Dances With Films, 29th June, 5 pm, TCL Chinese Theatres
https://danceswithfilms.com/preet/