international short film competition
A Happy Place
Siddhant Sarin
Belgium · 21’
Screenings
Synopsis
Against the backdrop of mass emigration from India, "Happy", an undocumented Indian immigrant, lives and works in a dimly lit night shop in Brussels. He strives to secure a promising future for the wife and daughter he left behind in India. But the constant threat of being found out, and the longing for his beloved family, wear him down and summon up surreal sights and sounds.
Details
- Direction
- Siddhant Sarin
- Country
- Belgium
- Runtime
- 21’
Direction
Siddhant Sarin
Siddhant Sarin is a nationally awarded Indian filmmaker and educator. A co-founder of Docustan, his films explore people's everyday lives through observational methods. With an intimate and delicate approach, he moves through the interplay between individuals' inner and outer worlds. He received support from the Asian Cinema Fund (Busan), Docedge, EIDF and the Lithuanian Film Centre for his nationally awarded film "Ayena (Mirror)". His films "Ayena (Mirror)", "Mum" and "A Happy Place" have been acclaimed at festivals including Krakow Film Festival, Guanajuato International Film Festival, DOK.fest Munich, Fipadoc, DokuBaku, IDSFFK, Caminhos do Cinema Português and Kino Pavasaris, among others. He represents his production company, Téh Films, which assembled the world's first Indian-Lithuanian-South Korean co-production team for his first feature, "Ayena (Mirror)". "Ayena (Mirror)" screens on Channel 4 (UK), Asian Docs (Japan) and DAFilms worldwide. He is also the editor of "As Light as Air", which received critical acclaim at the Locarno Film Festival, and co-produced another feature documentary, "Bhangaar (Obsolete)". A scholarship graduate of the DocNomads Master's Programme, he previously studied cinematography at the DFFB (Berlin) and FAMU (Prague). Before turning to cinema, he completed a law degree at Government Law College in Mumbai. His aim is to create authorial work that is at once reflective and socially resonant.