Four Indian students have been selected by the Tony Blair Faith Foundation to represent India in the global film competition section ‘Faith Shorts’ at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards this year. They speak about their new role
Connecting cultures
Name: Ishita Gupta
Age: 14 (as of 2012)
Category: 14-17 year olds
From: New Delhi
School: Sanskriti School
Profile: I love to draw, paint, read, play the violin and enjoy with my cats. I hate most forms of physical exercise except playing badminton.
What’s your movie on?
It shows how globalisation is connecting cultures.
What’s the message you want to give?
There are many religions and cultures in the world. My movie celebrates the beauty of this oneness of humanity.
What were the challenges you faced?
Making a stop motion movie is not easy, I had to see if the light was good and camera was moving in the right direction.
What’s your inspiration?
Art movies have always inspired me. Doing something out-of-the-box is my inspiration.
Unsighted Faith
Name: Sujat Roy
Age: 17 (as of 2012)
Category: Face to Faith
From: New Delhi
School: Apeejay School
Profile: Playing with colours on my canvas, biking and swimming.
What’s your movie ABOUT?
Unsighted Faith explores the nurturing relationship between teachers and students.
What’s the message you want to give?
The important role teachers play in every student’s life. How they motivate and make us responsible citizens of society.
What were the challenges you faced?
Finalising the script and executing it.
What was your motivation?
An unstated bond in a classroom between students and teachers. I wanted everyone to know about this special relationship.
My God of Gods
Name: Hanu Tyagi
Age: 13 (as of 2012)
Category: Face to Faith category
From: Ghaziabad
School: Nehru World School
Profile: I’m interested in sports and photography.
What’s your movie on?
It is about the faith and values parents instill in their kids.
What’s the message you want to give?
Don’t worry about helicopter parents hovering over you. They only want to be informed about your whereabouts, so why not tell them where you are going and with whom?
What were the challenges you faced?
Deciding the location and then getting permission from authorities for shooting.
How do you relate with the movie?
I try to do what my parents ask me to and never go against them.
The Mirror
Name: Mudit Muraka
Age: 15 (as of 2012)
Category: 14-17 year olds
From: New Delhi
School: Apeejay School
Profile: Reading, listening to music and writing.
What’s your movie on?
It’s about how I, a self-conscious teenager, uses faith to defy the stereotypes that are forced upon me by the world, I live in.
What’s the message you want to give?
One needs to have faith in yourself to be what you want.
What were the challenges you faced?
Spending 20 days going through different versions of the movie and then getting it right.
How do you relate with the movie?
I have broken all traditional ideologies and I’m doing what I want do best.