BROKEN
AN INDEPENDENT MOVIE:
Aastha is a final year Politics student at University of Exeter. She has written, directed and co-directed several videos and short films on social and political issues. Apart from this, she is interested in debating and has chaired conferences across Europe.
The Director's Interview:
In all honesty, I watch cinema to be entertained and I hope to do the same for my viewers. Short films on social issues are often criticized to be not as entertaining, or dull for the general audience. I wish to change this perception. Hence, though Broken is a film that revolves around the issue of emotional abuse, there is also a romantic story of a couple and a personal journey of an introvert girl. This gives the movie more layers and also keeps it entertaining.
Who is Aastha Tyagi?
How could you best describe our short film “Broken” to make our readers want to give it a chance?
How did the idea of a short film come up?
When I started writing the script, I didn't think that "oh, I am making a film on emotional abuse". No, for me it was always a story about a girl who is trying to find herself, she wants to break free but something is holding her back. That is something that I relate to on a very personal level and that is what I want the viewers to see as well, not just the social issue.
Good point, Fella. This thinking is what I want to change though. I believe that we, the young generation, are a lot smarter, and more mature, than we are given credit for. I can give you our example, we are just a bunch of students who like filmmaking. If we, the youth, can create a film on a heavy topic, I believe that there must be other bunch of students who would want to watch it too.
A film can be perceived differently by each viewer. In the case of “Broken”, many means, such as the soundtrack and the flashbacks, may convey different emotions to different type of viewers. Would you be open to different interpretations of the movie?
Of course. That is what art is all about, isn't it? I wanted the flashbacks to be vague and dream-like because they are not the actual events, but a re-collection from Sia's memory. Some might see her re-collection to be exaggerated, some might not question it. The movie has an open ending as well, though it is rather on the optimistic side. I want the viewers to discuss and question the ending, have conversations and hopefully, this would get them to talk about the issue at hand as well.
How was it working on such a short budget and deadline?
As every shooting must have been planned by the second, let’s talk about things that you did not expect. What good surprises did you get from making this project?
Hectic. And exhausting. I remember that someone who applied for Jay's role wanted his own wardrobe. He didn't get the part but it did scare me in the beginning. I had never done this before so it was really challenging but I can say this from the bottom of my heart that I had some of the best people to work with who didn't ask for special treatments like personalised wardrobes (laughs).
So many surprises. The funniest was me escorting my female lead in her tight dress and high heels around a park, trying to find a washroom so she could take her leggings off. The rest were mainly good surprises, like my cinematographers bringing my vision to life and taking great close-up shots. Also, after walking for half an hour along the lake, we finally decided to shoot in Amstelpark which was such a great decision as all the shots came out so well.
Would you encourage other young talents to launch their own project, despite the obstacles? Would you not encourage them to wait till they have finished their studies and be financially and professionally secure?
Life is too short for that. We have to be on a roll at all times, just keep on hustling. I study international relations, you study Journalism, Jenna does law, Romman and Harsha are doing science-related studies. None of us are truly from the filmmaking background, so when are we going to get an opportunity to do this, if not now?
The team of this project is not expecting to get over-night fame or great recognition or anything. It is project that we did for ourselves and we really, really enjoyed it. And that is what life should we all about as well.
Are there new projects we should be following you with? Do you want to keep going in the film production or discover a new domain?
Sadly, there are none for now. I definitely love film production and being behind the camera but I also want to continue developing my debating and writing skills, further with my politics education. I have several domains that I want to discover as well, but you will just have to wait to find out about them.
Interview written by Fella Boulazreg; Videographer of "Broken" and Maker of its website.
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