Award Winning Animation “Passage” By Asavari Kumar Deconstructs The American Dream
After collecting a bevy of awards and nominations at numerous prestigious festivals, the Animated short film “Passage” will be screening at the Academy Award® Qualifying Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival from 1st – 31st October 2020, as a part of the Momentum program. Written and directed by Asavari Kumar, “Passage” tells the story of an Indian woman who upon revisiting her immigration journey, travels through an emotional landscape of memory, identity, belonging, and the illusion of the American dream.
Being one of the few female Indian directors in animation, Kumar created “Passage” as a response to the growing anti-immigrant sentiment in Trump’s America. “After the US presidential elections of 2016, like many others, I felt an ominous paradigm shift. Rising anti-immigrant sentiment and white nationalism mixed in with the horrors brought to light by the #MeToo movement created a perfect storm of fear, disillusionment, and helplessness.” “Caught between cultures and troubled by the warped narratives of the American dream and the model minority myth, we hope “Passage” steers the conversation away from divisive discourses within the immigrant community.” Presented through a feminist lens, the short weaves the ideas of home, nation, and belonging into a poetic animated essay, proving that Indian animation is not limited to children’s programming but can be used as a powerful medium to explore social issues.
Responding to the lack of diversity in entertainment and limited representation of South-Asian characters in animation, “Passage” was created by a multicultural team of women and POC artists. The short has been co-produced by Asavari Kumar & Siddharth Zutshi with art direction by Shaivalini Kumar, narration by Madame Gandhi, original score, and sound design by Shruti Kumar, animation by Olivia Pellicer, Katherine Dallimore & Millie Woodcock with digital design by Mario Ayala.
Tickets for the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival are available here. For a list of upcoming festival screenings, visit Passage. For more information about this film and the cast & crew please visit #TeamPassage.
