The buzz around this Burger

Mona

Filmmaker Reema Maya is up for another feather in her cap as her short film Nocturnal Burger is in consideration for Best Live Action Short Film at the 96th Academy Awards.

After making its world premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival, this 28-minute-film has travelled to 50 plus film festivals across the world and won 34 awards, including the Oscar-qualifying Golden Chair Award for Best International Short at Kortfilm Festivalen, Norway.

It charts story about a 13-year-old girl and a 30-something man, who are brought to a police station in Mumbai in the middle of the night by two strangers. Amidst questionable motives and unreliable narrators, a frustrated female constable investigates what happened that night, and what could have happened. The film stars Bebo Madiwal, Millo Sunka, Trupti Khamkar, Shrikant Mohan Yadav, Pushpendra Singh and Somnath Mondal.

Reema Maya aka Reema Sengupta, elated and excited about the shot at Oscar, goes back to how Nocturnal Burger came into being. “The journey of this film started from a very unfortunate true incident a few years ago. Everything that happened that night stayed deep inside me, and Nocturnal Burger is the first outlet it has had. It is an exploration of abuse and trauma; fantasy and escapism. It talks about the omnipresence of sexual abuse even in public space, and the need for vigilance and intervention by the community.”

Nocturnal Burger is a coming-of-age film in the darkest sense. And, making it to prestigious Oscar’s race has Reema overwhelmed. “We had not anticipated getting to this point. But we are excited that this allows us to speak about the important conversations we are trying to have on the world stage. I am so happy to see Indian stories and Indian films being celebrated worldwide.”

Working with an incredibly passionate team that worked tirelessly to make Nocturnal Burger happen has been the biggest takeaway for Reema from this journey. “Every single person gave it his/her all, and the energy was so beautiful. I had tears of gratitude even before we rolled the first shot. It was a gruelling shoot, but we all knew what we were getting into, and we were mentally prepared for it.”

In love with stories, Reema knew early on that she wanted to be a filmmaker. “I have known that I wanted to be a filmmaker ever since I was 12. I wanted to be the one telling the stories and not just be in one. Films have immense potential to invoke empathy and influence and I wanted to use that power to talk about important social issues.”

Inspired by many filmmakers, it is their innovation not just with the story but with the craft that inspires Reema. Ask her about her favourite 2023 watch and she answers, “Year 2023 was an absolute blur. There was no time to watch anything. The first film I watched this year was Past Lives. I watched it when we were at Sundance. So beautiful, so poetic and deeply moving, it has stayed with me ever since!”

About India’s chances at Oscars, Reema, whose last short film Counterfeit Kunkoo too gained much attention at the festival circuit, insists, “We got lucky at last Oscars and I believe the South-Asian cinema is making a stride globally. For next five years, the world will be watching us!

She concludes, “It takes a lot for a small Indian short to be in consideration for Oscars. We need all of community love and support to represent our country on global stage!”