OF COURSE, WE WANT TO WIN...
... but if it’s not our time this year, it will come eventually, say Oscarnominated Indian Americans
The present is “surreal and sweet” and the future “bright” for Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan, co-directors who have landed an Oscar nomination in the Documentary (Short Subject) category for St Louis Superman. It tells the story of black rapper and activist Bruce Franks Jr, who was inspired to run for office by the unrest in Ferguson, US.
For US-based Smriti, the daughter of late filmmaker Jagmohan Mundhra of Bawandar (2000) and Provoked (2006) fame, the feeling of being nominated is “like I just got engaged or found out I got into a great college”. And all that Sami could think about was “how fortunate I was to work with this incredible team”.
How confident are they about a win? “Not confident,” Smriti tells us, and adds, “We share the nominations with four other incredible films. I wouldn’t feel bad losing to any of them. It’s a cliche to say it’s an honour to just be nominated — of course, we want to win — but if it’s not our time this year, our time will come eventually.”
The nemesis of St Louis Superman lay in a local newspaper article titled, From Ferguson protester to State Legislator, Bruce Franks Jr says he’ll never stop fighting. It took months of dogged pursuit on the filmmakers’ part to convince
Bruce to even talk to them, reveals Sami.
As filmmakers of colour, it was important for the duo to highlight the struggles that people from marginalised communities face when rising to leadership roles.
“Who would’ve thought an Indian girl from Los Angeles and a Muslim guy from Canada would get nominated for an Oscar for a film about a black man from St Louis?” questions Smriti, stressing how it shows the “power of storytelling”.
“It can bring together people from different walks of life and corners of the globe to expand each other’s horizons. The documentary community seems to understand the value of that. Hopefully, the rest of Hollywood will catch up soon,” adds the 39year-old, who admits her filmmaker father’s influence on her has been “profound”.
And while Hollywood is caught up in #OscarsSoWhite and #BaftasSoWhite debates, Smriti points out how the ballgame in documentaries is different: 4 out of 5 feature documentary nominees are women, and four out of five short documentary nominees are women. “Our film has the most diverse filmmaking team of any film this year... The reason is that documentaries — since they’re less expensive and require less upfront capital to start — can be made without as many gatekeepers. And when you remove the gatekeepers, the strongest filmmakers and stories rise to the top.”