"Anuja" Nominated for Academy Award, Best Live Action Short Film

Roberts Projects congratulates Suchitra Mattai, producer and Adam J. Graves, director on the nomination of Anuja, for an Academy Award, Best Live Action Short Film. Anuja tells the story of a gifted nine-year-old girl who, alongside her sister Palak, faces a life-changing opportunity that tests their bond and mirrors the struggles of girls worldwide.

I was in the early stages of developing a coming-of-age film, when Suchitra Mattai (my wife and producing partner) happened upon an unsettling statistic: globally, nearly one in ten children under the age of fifteen is subject to child labor (i.e., labor that is detrimental to one’s health, development, and education). The figure seemed very real to us. Our own children were about that age, and they (through my wife’s side of the family) are descendants of indentured laborers from the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It was disquieting to think that this ancestral past was a living present for over one hundred and sixty million children around the world. – Adam J. Graves

Suchitra Mattai is a multi-disciplinary artist of South Asian descent, whose work celebrates the power of women, reimagines historical narratives, and explores her family’s history of indentured labor. Mattai received an MFA in painting and drawing and an MA in South Asian art from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA and a BA, Statistics, from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.

Adam J. Graves is a philosopher-turned-filmmaker, who holds a BA in South Asian studies and a PhD in the philosophy of religion from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. Graves has lived extensively in India, where he studied Sanskrit at the Banaras Hindu University, conducted grant-supported research, and volunteered with several youth-focused nonprofits in Rajasthan, Bihar, UP, and MP.