ANUJA film premiered at the deadCenter Film Festival and is to screen at the upcoming HollyShorts Film Festival in LA in August.
It was produced in partnership with the Salaam Baalak Trust (SBT), a nonprofit founded by the family of renowned director Mira Nair (MONSOON WEDDING and SHINE GLOBA), the production company behind Emmy and Academy Award-winning films such as WAR/DANCE (2007) and INOCENTE (2012).
Lead actress Sajda Pathan grew up living with her older sister on the streets of the jhuggi (slum) in Old Delhi after being abandoned by her parents. She spent her days begging outside a Hanuman temple until social workers from SBT invited her to enroll in a non-formal education at their center in Yamuna Bazaar.
Adam J. Graves (Writer/Director) is a philosopher-turned-filmmaker who holds a B.A. in South Asian studies and a Ph.D. in the Philosophy of Religion from the University of Pennsylvania. Adam is author of The Phenomenology of Revelation and a professor of philosophy at MSU Denver where he teaches film & philosophy.
Graves wrote, directed and produced the award winning short film CYCLE VÉRITÉ (2021) and produced and edited the documentary short THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SUN (2024). He is married to the acclaimed visual artist Suchitra Mattai, producer of ANUJA.
Producer Suchitra Mattai is a multi-disciplinary artist of South Asian descent, whose work celebrates the power of women, reimagines historical narratives and explores her family’s history of indentured labor. Her works are included in the collections of Crystal Bridges Museum of Art, the Nasher Museum of Art, the Denver Art Museum, the Tampa Museum of Art, the Joselyn Museum, the Tia Collection, the Perez Collection, the Shah Garg collection, and the University of Michigan Museum of Art.
P.S. – Nagesh Bhonsle who plays factory owner Mr. Verma truly distinguishes himself.
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WORD Editor, Publisher Gregg W. Morris
Can be reached at gregghc@comcast.net, profgreggwmorris@gmail.com