0:21 Anyway, so that's the video. So in ours, it's a little bit different. What's gonna start is you're basically sitting on this chair, and you're watching TV, and the TV's gonna be flipping through different types of channels and stuff. And we're gonna be all the way behind you. 0:42 22 year old Toronto based filmmaker prod rajwada, sits on the worn glue fabric of a couch in the basement of the community center he works in, he uses this space with its dual monitors and editing software as an office for his film endeavors. Today, he's directing a young dancer and a short video they've been collaborating on for a few weeks, 0:59 all these cool glitches are gonna happen, and will happen post. And I'm gonna direct you through the movements on the right side. We're gonna choreograph it. So like what moved to do when and stuff. And that's familiar mind because I can't, I'm not dancer. So I'll show you. This is a track. This is a really rough take. It's not finished yet. But it's basically one song after the other. 1:22 As a young aspiring filmmaker, finding a spacer voice in the film scene is difficult. After that navigating the difficulties of being an Indian immigrant attempting to reconcile your dual identities and things get even more difficult for prod, you know, from India to Canada, and the sixth grade. This is life projects on a journey to find a space for his voice in the Toronto Film Industry. And today, we're taking a closer look at the process. 1:44 And I was in high school, I did a small class project where we made like this little short parody trailer for an English project. And it was just me and my friends. And it was like a parody. It was supposed to be not Hello. And we like we really, really stretch what the assignment was and made like a matrix trailer and tied into Othello, it was really it was a really far stretch. But it was like the most fun I've ever had. I was like, This is so much fun. We were just like making stuff. And I was with my Cooper friends. So I always had the idea that I want to do something where we get to make stuff like videos, and I get to work with my friends. I went to school for something in STEM, and then I decided to drop out and start working on set. school I don't think was the best environment for me to kind of thrive in. I was always skipping classes and exams and lectures and like, trying to find loopholes and tricks to like get out of things, and constantly lied to my parents and just trying to figure out ways to avoid my, like life that point until I just was like, why am I doing all this like, I don't care about any of this. And like it was like a whole weight lifted off my shoulder after I dropped I like that I can do anything. 3:02 It was after dropping out that project and opportunity and friends in the creative field. 3:09 So I met prior judge. When I worked we were both part of the real Asian film festivals unsung voices program. It's basically a program for youth Asian youth who are not obviously represented in film and television and media. And it gives them the opportunity to make their first short film and collaborate with other Asian Youth in order to sort of get the skills they need for filmmaking and find creative partners to work with. And that's where I met him and we became friends and also we do creative projects together and I usually produce and he does the directing, as well as any of the sort of onset work is all him the technical side the editing. 3:59 After becoming involved in the real Asian Film Festival, he got the chance to for the first time in his professional career, create a short film, balancing his debut short, written, directed and starring pij would later be featured at the tough next week festival. 4:15 I was wondering, maybe maybe maybe we could go together as a unit party. I could pick up 4:28 laughter together. 4:34 Basic Sikh teenager who feels like his turban is stopping him from getting this girl. And then she based the story on him seeing the girl with a turban dude, and he's like, Oh shit, that wasn't it at all. And he like disguises his turban by wearing a beanie. And I used to have one of my best friends in university will do this. It wasn't I don't think he was was doing it to disguise it, but he would just always were, I would Okay, I would, I would wear a beanie all the time. Back in the day, I was rocking that beanie style those beanie hipster webs. And he would always make fun of me for you got you wearing a beanie. And then he would wear a beanie over his turban. And I was like, What the fuck is the point of that? There's literally no purpose for this. And like, how can you talk shit about me wearing a beanie when you pull this kind of shit? Sounds like this ridiculous. And so I mean Ruby on him, basically. So I made that and I consulted him before I made it. I didn't tell him it was bad. And but I was like, Hey, I'm making this movie about a Sikh dude. I'm like getting people are gonna get offended or blah, blah. He's like, Nah, it's gonna be fun. I think I really like stories, again, that are people driven, kind of star underdogs. I write about what I know. So Asian experiences and just because emigrants stories, but usually just people who want like your typical hero, kind of fish, normal people are less than that. below average people. That's nice to say. But just like your typical kind of losers and the world, or like people that view people as losers, just not the most popular. Kind of like really people origin stories that have a lot of heart that make you feel good. Really, everything has like a hint of comedy in it. I don't think I could ever do something like really serious or dramatic because I just don't see life that way. And I feel like I have to put a joke in there. Not to undercut the tension. But just to give it a sense of realism because I think life is kind of like that. 6:42 Despite the competency gained from the local success of his first short film, a film that brought his experiences as an Asian man to the forefront, being a man of color, trying to find footing in the film industry is not without its racially charged challenges. 6:54 I remember when I went to that rain dance pitching competition, and I was sitting with one of the industry judges who was a white guy. And this guy came up to me, and he was very clearly drunk. And he was like, Yo, I love that pitch. He's like, even have like Bollywood dancing in it. And I'm like, Uh huh. Probably traveling, not that Bollywood. And then he did like the traditional like, like the really racist steak like Bollywood girl derp derp, like to the dance movement and walked away. And I was kind of just like, Wait, did that did that just happen? Because it was it was like such a like, stereotypically racist or white thing to do. The way I thought you only see that movies. So I wasn't even offended. I was just like, wait, that was so weird. And then the industry judge assigned him like, he's like, oh my god. We're just gonna put that on her things like people do. And then we just continue talking. We just laughed about it. 7:53 I just hopeful nonetheless, his passion for film seemingly unshaken. 7:57 I think I'm pretty young right now. And my portfolio doesn't have enough work that I can like, kind of go to the studio and be like, hey, look at all this work, like hire me. So my main focus right now is making more portfolio pieces that are really like stunning. 8:14 He continues to work on small film projects whenever and however he can, infusing these experiences and interests into creative works. 8:28 That kind of vision is I think, very rare in filmmaking, like just going with the flow using the resources that you have around you. And I think that's also what makes him like a really good director. And yeah, he's just met fulfilling he's meant to be a filmmaker. a storyteller. Transcribed by https://otter.ai