Sunday, May 29, 2011

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Synopsis


This is brief look at life in a red-street. Even though the language suggests its somewhere in North India, this could be anywhere. This is not about lust or bodies being sold. This is about innocence trapped in the alleys where souls are sold for silver coins. The film has an unnamed girl child, aged around two years, trying to keep to herself, as her mother sells her body. The film is about a poignant moment, where the innocent child is trapped between her instincts and the callous world around her.



Do children need to pay for sins of adults? 
Can childhood be weighed by silver coins? 
The Silver Coin, the animation short by Reji Syne explores the intricate alleys of human existence, where innocent childhoods lose direction, for no fault of theirs.
 Life, for lesser privileged children, is as fragile as an egg shell.

Behind the Scenes

Tejas Rahate as The Egg Boy
Reema Shaikh as The Kid
Dayani Meet Ashwin as The paanwaala
Seema Bajaj as Mother

Press Clipping's

Directors' Statment


This short animation feature is based on a real-life incident, which continues to haunt me – even in my wakeful hours. I met this little girl in one of the sex streets in India. It was well past midnight, and I was waiting for my friend to finish answering a call on his mobile. She could not have seen me through the dark windscreens of the car we were in. The face of the little girl, who lost the coin in the gutters and thereby her chance to buy the egg, came with me, long after we drove away. This film is not just a re-visit to a haunting memory; but an attempt to poke the carpet of silence under which we push all those unpleasant sights around us.


Treatment Given the sensitive nature of the film, it is portrayed in a highly stylised manner. The special treatment has been evolved to capture the theme poignantly, but to avoid it ruffling the finer sensibilities of the audience. Special care has also been taken in the music composition to suit this treatment.

Directors' Bios & Photos



With more than two decades of experience in the media,Reji Syne has been working on culture and entertainment with a perspective of social responsibility and commitment. He always strove for a new visual sub-text for the written word. His work was acknowledged by the stalwarts of theatre. Mr.Syne then moved on to films and television production. He was instrumental in re-defining the format of morning shows in television by breaking it free of studio floors and taking it closer to the cultural panorama of the land. He has been in the Limca books of records for the longest single shot ever made in Indian Television History. He was an entrant of Royal Commonwealth Society Vision Awards 2008. An experimental short film got selected in the Barcelona Short film Festival. Reji got the Kerala State Award for the Best Director. Currently working on Manikantan, the first full-length animation feature film in Malayalam.

Filmography
2005
The story Unknown/ Documentary/ 16 mints Won the Film Critics Award for Best Documentary and Best Director
2006
Kathakali/ Short Film/ Experimental Selected for the Barcelona Film Festival
2007
Udayamritham/ Documentary/ 155 minutes
Longest Single shot Video in non-fiction category in Indian Television History.
Won State Award for the Best Director
2008
The Last Tree/ Short Film
Entrant for the Royal Commonwealth Vision Awards 2008, UK
2008
Hymns of Love/ Documentary
Won Best Director and Best Cameraman in Kerala Film Audience Council video festival 2009
2009
Shades of Life/ Fiction/ 68 Minutes
Won Best Director, Best Actress in the Contact 2009 Video Film Festival
Won Best Director, Best Actress, Best Tele-cinema, Best screen play and Best Editor in Kerala Film Audience Council video festival 2009
3 State Awards - Best Cinematographer, Best Dubbing Artist, Second Best Actress
2010
Me/non fiction/ 5 minutes
Participated in the Pratibimb 2010, a National Level Short Film &Documentary Festival, Maharashtra and won best short film award.
Selected in the competition section of the International We Care Film Festival 2010 organized by Brother Hood in association with UNESCO and UN.
Participated in the 3rd International Video and Short film festival of Kerala 2010 in the music Video category.

Credits



Concept, Screenplay & Direction
Reji Syne




Animation Director & Visualiser
Abhilash


Producer
Mochitha


Dialogues

Voice Casting & Associate Director
Brijesh Singh

VOICE ACTING

Sania Bajaj as Mother
Tejas Rahate as The Egg Boy
Dayani Meet Ashwin as The Panwaala
Reem Shaikh as The Kid

Pre-production research team
Anoop Sasidharan
Rajesh Damodar
Shiji
Rajesh Thankachan
Deepak

Compositing & Special effects
Subin

Post Production
Aju Krishnan


Coordinator
Bhagyanath

Music
Ramesh Narayan


Sound recordist
Amol Gupte

Sound Effects
Kannan


Sound Studio
Empire Studio, Mumbai

Mixing
Sam Santhosh