Perianayaki

It feels strange to ask you to donate to a short film at an uncertain time like this. The truth is, we don’t know what the future holds for our film industry, but we reckon the only way forward for us is to keep making work. Our short film will create opportunities for artists to continue working, and with your donations, we can ensure that they are paid fairly. Your support allows us to keep telling our stories! 

ABOUT THE FILM

Perianayaki, a 56-year old Sri Lankan refugee begins her day stacking shelves at the local supermarket. Despite her struggle with the English language, she tries to forge meaningful connections with people around her. Today, on her wedding anniversary, Perianayaki is forced to reconcile with the difficult reality of her life.

WHY THIS FILM IS IMPORTANT

Perianayaki represents the people we encounter in our everyday lives - the ones who bag our groceries, clean our homes, drive our ubers - but whose stories we have rarely seen on screen. 

As children of first generation migrants to New Zealand, we have witnessed first hand the alienation, excitement and turmoil of creating home in a new land. Perianayaki is a character study that provokes audiences to pause, take notice, and interrogate their assumptions about immigrants and refugees, especially those who lack social and economic power and are often rendered "invisible".

This film is particularly important and relevant in our current times. COVID19 has brought to light the important and often under-appreciated mahi that frontline workers do to keep society functioning. Over the last several weeks, we’ve seen outpourings of gratitude for supermarket workers, nurses, courier drivers and other essential workers. Though we wrote this film last year, it will be made in a post pandemic world and we hope it will become a small part of the conversation by shedding light on the reality of life as an immigrant frontline worker.

HELP US MAKE OUR FILM

Perianayaki received a grant of $15,000 through the New Zealand Film Commission and Script To Screen's Fresh Shorts initiative. While this initial funding will go a long way towards our production costs such as lighting, sound and camera gear, it doesn't cover everything. Reaching our fundraising goal will allow us to pay the cast and crew a modest fee for their time and effort, particularly during this challenging period when artists are struggling because most productions have come to a halt.

It would mean so much to us to have your support on this project. Any donation, no matter how big or small, is immensely helpful. We do realise this is a hard time for many, so if you are unable to make a monetary contribution but would like to support us, we would be most grateful if you shared this with your friends and whānau.

MEET THE TEAM

Since both of us (Bala and Shreya) are still emerging filmmakers, it was important for us to have an experienced crew to support us on this project. We are lucky to have some very talented professionals as part of our team: 

Bala Murali Shingade - Director

Shreya Gejji - Writer, Producer

Shuchi Kothari - Executive Producer

Tim Flower - Director of Photography

Louise Spraggon - 1st Assistant Director

Ahi Karunaharan - Casting Director, Dramaturg

Shailesh Prajapati - Editor

We invite you connect with us on Facebook and Instagram and follow our journey of making this film! 

NGĀ MIHI NUI KI A KOUTOU | THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT