Diaspora
The YoungCuts Film Festival is pleased to announce that it has selected Aadhi Vive and Aaraniyan Vive's short film Diaspora as one of our Top 100 International Short Films for 2011. The film is also shortlisted for consideration as Best Canadian Film and for Best Editor.
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| Diaspora Poster |
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The Official Final Deadline of the YoungCuts Film Festival was June 15th. While we will only announce our full selection of our Top 100 around July 15th and while there is still an opportunity for films that we haven't received yet to trickle in after the deadline, we thought that we would begin announcing some of the films that we know will be included in our Top 100.
These won't be announced in any kind of order and they should not be interpreted as any kind of ranking, just that we have all the material for this particular film and that we do consider it one of the Top 100 short films by filmmakers 25 and under that we have seen (and will see) out of more than a thousand films that we have screened from more than 30 countries.
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| Arrival |
Diaspora
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| Aadhi Vive |
Directed by Aadhi Vive and Aaraniyan Vive
There is a lot to admire in Diaspora.
It tells a story from a very specific community and tells it well - in the process becoming a universal story.
It tells its story purely visually, a choice that takes guts to attempt and an uncommon combination of creativity and technique to pull off.
Finally, it is edited to a razor's edge. You would be hard pressed to find an unnecessary frame in its 390 seconds.
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| Unpacking |
Runtime: 6 min : 30 sec
Completion: 2011
Country of Origin: Canada (Ontario)
Synopsis: Hard work, a good education and a big dream sound like the sure ingredients for success in starting a better life in a new country. But are they?
Diaspora is a visual piece that gleans over the lifespan of an immigrant family, witnessing their times of struggles, joys and departures over the passing years.
Nasser Younis Khan has a highly respectable degree from a top school in England and a career in architecture that is quickly blossoming in Asia. Filled with confidence and optimism for a better future for himself and his family, he moves them all to Canada. He is soon quick to realize that starting a new life in a foreign country demands more than just a good degree and a big dream.
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| Diaspora Behind the Scenes |
Filmmaker Bio Aadhi Vive: Aadhi Vive was born in Ceylon and began writing and making films when he moved to Toronto, at the age of 12. In 2006 he co-created "Just Another Wave", a documentary on the devastating 2004 tsunami, that was distributed by TV5, and then in 2009, he went on to graduate from Vancouver Film School, in Visual Arts and design studies. He has been working as an Editor and Motion Designer in both Toronto and Vancouver. Some of his work can presently be seen on "Unscripted", a biography show on Vision TV and on his website, www.aadhivive.com. He is currently producing his first feature film "Merchants and Beggars".
Filmmaker Age Aadhi Vive: 24
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| Comfort |
Filmmaker Age Aaraniyan Vive: 21
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| Diaspora Behind the Scenes |
Filmmaker Q&A:
Where did you get the idea?
Aadhi - Aara and I started working in factories, fast food chains and various other blue collar workplaces, where we met with many South Asian immigrants who became motivators and mentors. Most of these men and women were well educated and had a successful career in their native country(ies). We based Nasser on one of these men. Surya is just another friend of ours. We have too many friends like him. Indhu was inspired by listening to gossip of classmates in highschool during the MSN era. We mixed up a bunch of characters and wrote the story.
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| Exploring |
What was the most difficult part about making this film?
Aadhi - Casting people of young and old, then figuring out the make up and then rewriting the story to suit the technical details. Pauline Wong organized in such a way that there were no flaws. Working in one location helped a lot. We had to change the set as time passed in the story. Our production designer, Allen Legacy was quick with ideas and we did magic.
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| Diaspora Behind the Scenes |
How has new technology and special effects helped you tell the story in this film?
Aaraniyan - First off, we needed a high quality image at a lower budget, we settled on a DSLR camera that shot HD video. We love technology. Aadhi and I are tech-geeks however we know that technology is taken for granted nowadays in the indie film production world. When we started making films, we had to beg and borrow cameras, buy super-8 stock, shoot on VHS tapes and use AV cables and capture cards to transfer the footage into a computer. Nowadays people are going to sleep as Accountants or Social Workers and waking up wanting to be filmmakers or photographers, because the technology is so cheap.
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| Conflict |
How is working with the award-winning composer, Patrick Haggart Ippersiel?
Aadhi - Patrick and I have a wonderful work relationship. We have supported each other on our careers. I am his number 1 fan. I think he is going to replace Deadmau5 or Kaskade or any other electronic musician out there right now. As a composer he is amazing. We always wanted to have him score Diaspora and any of our future projects, unless he becomes too famous too fast.
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| Diaspora Alternate Poster |
Aaraniyan - We are at pre-production stage of our first feature “Nightingale of Serendip”. A magical-realism styled movie telling the story of a young boy who learns the art of barbering and Sculpting as his blindness engulfs him slowly. We are also keen on producing films for other directors and content makers whose stories and ideas adhere to our mandate.
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The 2011 YoungCuts Film Festival will begin on Thursday, September 29th. Screenings will be at the Guzzo Spheretech beginning on Friday, September 30th. Stay tuned for details on how to enjoy the amazing films that we will be presenting including Diaspora!
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