Brooklyn Filmmaker Captures 'Hope' in 15 Minutes or Less On Path to Hollywood
By Sam Howe & Friends
Published online 07-22-2008
FLATBUSH-BASED FILMMAKER Shalini Kantayya was recently selected as one of 15 finalists in a competition to discover "inspiring and influential" filmmakers. As a passionate eco-activist and feminist, Kantayya was a natural standout at the Florida-based competition, hosted by The Doorpost Film Project. Her personal motto is "Lights, camera, activism!"
"As a filmmaker and human rights activist, I believe film is the spark that can ignite positive social change," says Kantayya. "I seek to tell stories that inspire, educate, and empower audiences to see the world in a new way."
The 31-year-old Top 10 finalist (out of 12,000 competitors) for last season's Fox reality show On the Lot is one of two female finalists in the Doorpost competition. Her winning short, Vita's Garden, tackled the topic of pain by telling the story of a young girl's search to find beauty in her sterile and desolate environment.
Like the other finalists, Kantayya has received $10,000 for Round Two of the competition, and has just a few weeks left to submit her 8- to 15-minute short on the topic of hope. The entries will be screened at a festival in Nashville this September where the grand-prize winner will be announced. The top filmmaker will pocket $100,000 and receive a trip to L.A. to meet with production companies.
Kantayya's interest in filmmaking was sparked when she was 19 and visiting a Buddhist monastery in one of the 13 villages India gave to Tibetan refugees:
"I heard 800 monks chanting this deep-throated prayer and was acutely aware that this community was recreating their traditions in exile. Something sort of hit me in my heart, and I knew that there were stories that I needed to tell that I couldn't express in words. This was before I knew aperture or iris or anything about filmmaking. I started to put imaginary picture frames on everything I saw, and it was almost as if I discovered my sense of sight in a new way."
Learn more about Kantayya, her production company, and her work at www.7thempiremedia.com.