A Mother's Journey
New film set in Hebden Bridge

Wednesday, 13 June 2007

A new film, A mother's Journey, set in Hebden Bridge, charts the experiences of a young woman struggling to come to terms with life in the UK after emigrating from India.

This Silver Bullet production presents a dramatic short film depicting a young woman’s experience as she struggles to come to terms with life in England after emigrating from India. Anjali Mya Chadha plays the lead character of Sudesh, a reluctant immigrant whose difficulty acclimatising to an alien culture is exacerbated by her loveless and physically abusive marriage. The character playing her husband is Nitin Ganatra (Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, Bride and Prejudice) who plays the estranged husband also struggling to come to terms with his new life in England.

Mother's Journey, set in Hebden Bridge has been more than 2 years in the making and was written and directed by local, independent film maker Bal Kumar. Kumar has based ‘mother's Journey’ on his own mother’s personal experiences, as he provides an intimate insight into the history of his parents’ immigration and turbulent relationship. Kumar does not dilute the harshness of his father’s behaviour nor does he seek to rationalise it. However, mother's Journey veers away from sensationalism and addresses prevalent subjects such as racism, immigration, isolation and domestic violence in a realistic and honest yet sometimes difficult manner.
Mother's Journey is an educational as well as an enjoyable cinematic experience. The structure of the movie forces the audience to confront serious underlying social issues through the emotional voyage of its endearing central character while successfully managing to avoid contrived clichés and hapless stereotypes.

Although the central characters of mother's Journey are Asian, the film does not aim to appeal to an exclusive or even a predominantly Asian demographic. However, this is clearly not a movie for the undiscerning masses as it seeks to appeal to a sophisticated and socially aware audience, transcending race, religion and age. The gritty realism that is integral to the plot gives mother's Journey a strong sense of integrity but although the subject matter is unapologetically abrasive, the enduring message is one of prevalence through faith in the face of adversity!

Mother's Journey is to be screened at several high profile film festivals including Edinburgh, Toronto, Venice, Bite The Mango International Film Festival and most prestigiously Cannes.
Mother's Journey is currently in production as a feature length film.