Anuja Wins Best Live Action Short at the Oscar-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival

August 19, 2024 — Anuja, produced in association with Shine Global, was announced as the Best Live Action Short Winner at the prestigious HollyShorts Film Festival last night in Los Angeles. HollyShorts is one of about 150 Oscar-qualifying festivals whose top winners automatically become eligible for Oscars in the three shorts categories.

Anuja is the brainchild of the husband and wife team of Adam J. Graves and Suchitra Mattai (Cycle Vérité). With Graves directing and Mattai producing, Anuja tells the story of an exceptionally bright 9-year-old, Anuja (Sajda Pathan), who works with her 17-year-old sister Palak (Ananya Shanbhag) at a garment factory in Delhi, India. When a teacher shows up at the factory, promising Anuja the rare chance to attend an elite boarding school, Anuja faces a difficult decision.

The film was developed in association with the India-based non-profit, Salaam Baalak Trust (SBT), founded by Dr. Praveen Nair. After her daughter Mira Nair’s film Salaam Bombay! exposed the harsh conditions of children living on the streets, Dr. Nair was motivated to make a difference in the lives of street and working children in Delhi. Lead actress Pathan resides in an SBT home that provides shelter and education for girls formerly living on the street and brings her personal experience and passion for acting to the role.

Shine Global, a non-profit with the mission to improve children’s’ lives through powerful storytelling and the company behind Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning War/Dance (2007) and the Oscar-winning short documentary Inocente (2012), is planning a robust impact campaign around the film focusing on child labor and girls education. Shine Global is a member organization of the End US Child Labor Campaign and has worked closely over the years with many organizations worldwide towards ending child labor.

• 1 in 10 children worldwide is in child labor
• In the beginning of 2020, a total of 160 million children were in child labour – an increase for the first time in 20 years
• 79 million children were in hazardous work that directly endangers their health, safety and moral development
• Worldwide, 129 million girls are out of school
• When we invest in girls’ secondary education:
  • The lifetime earnings of girls dramatically increase
  • National growth rates rise
  • Child marriage rates decline
  • Child mortality rates fall
  • Maternal mortality rates fall
  • Child stunting drops

Along with first time actors Pathan and Shanbhag, the film also features popular award-winning Indian television actor, Nagesh Bhonsle, best known internationally for his supporting role as police deputy commissioner, “Vam” in Hotel Mumbai starring Dev Patel.  Rounding out the core team are Aaron Kopp (Saving Face, Liyana, Hunting Ground) and Krushan Naik (Resurgence) who serve as producers on the film. Other producers include Michael Graves, Ksheetij Saini, Alexandra Blaney (Creative Director, Shine Global), Susan MacLaury, and Albie Hecht.

Follow Anuja on Instagram: @graves_films
Website: https://www.anujathefilm.com/
#anujathefilm 

About Shine Global

Shine Global is a non-profit media company that improves the lives of children by telling powerful stories to raise awareness, promote action, and inspire change. We produce inspiring films and compelling content about underserved children. Through tailored distribution and outreach, we connect with our audiences in communities, classrooms, museums, and on Capitol Hill as part of a powerful engagement campaign to encourage social change.

Since our founding in 2005, Shine Global films have won more than 100 major awards, including an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short Subject for Inocente and an Academy Award®-nomination and two Emmys® for War/Dance. Recent films include the documentary-animation hybrid Liyana, the hit documentary The Eagle Huntress, Through Our Eyes: Homefront which is available on HBOMax, and the Ariel Award winner Home Is Somewhere Else, which is currently in festivals.

ABOUT SHINE GLOBAL’S RESILIENCE AWARDS

This annual event recognizes and celebrates the films and filmmakers that highlight the resilience and strength of children in the face of adversity. The awards are open to films of any genre that showcase children overcoming challenges, such as poverty, violence, illness, and discrimination, and demonstrate their resilience, courage, and determination.