A Story of Family and Belonging
why Dreamline
uplift south asian voices.
why us
Like Vaanen, Harshith, the director, grew up between a heavily traditional Hindu family and the American Hip-hop world. He shot heaps of rap videos and engrossed himself into rap culture, clashing with his family on multiple occasions. But through his art, he realized that being a part of many different cultures is a strength, not a weakness; we are able to take from each culture and embrace its flaws and benefits with equal and enthusiastic appreciation. With a team of international filmmakers all over the world attached to this project, we’re poised to shed light on the immigrant experience and the challenges it poses to parent-child relationships.
With the growing popularity of Asian cinema and AAPI narratives with films like RRR, Minari, Shoplifters, series like Squid Game and more, it’s the perfect time to showcase these diverse Asian-American perspectives, as well as the unique challenges that come with our identity. Dreamline is not just about the clashing of a traditional Indian family unit and underground hip-hop culture, but about a father coming to terms with who his son really is and learning to compromise their visions of success. Miscommunication and its effects on mental health is a social issue many first-generation kids face, and we hope that Dreamline could engage and bring both generations closer to each other.
why now
why support a short
Unlike feature-length films, short films are less costly to produce, have quicker turnaround times, and are a great way for budding filmmakers to showcase their talents and get started in the industry. The smallest donation can help jump start and support the careers of up-and-coming artists. Following festival submissions, filmmakers can reach a wider audience by distributing the short online or on streaming platforms, many of which now feature AAPI centric short film competitions. Due to their shorter lengths and tighter budgets, short films must work to capture audience attention in novel ways - these ‘limitations’ can lead to some of the most innovative and imaginative ways of storytelling! Moreover, short films require less financial resources and can act as proof of concept for future larger budget projects (P.S.: we already have a feature idea in the works!)