A short film made by Raja Pothineni, a Telugu, was selected for screening at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
His film 60 Eight, which stars Robert Miano and Laine Hannon among others, revolves around John, who meets with an accident at the age of eight, which leaves him in a vegetative state for 52 years. As he struggles through life, he comes across somebody from his past — his best friend, eight-year-old Sarah.
“The film deals with how the character struggles to cope with being out of place and time, and in between the optimism and dreams of an eight-year-old, and the decaying reality of a sickly 60-year-old. I’ve always been fascinated with how often we are wrong about what others endure, even the ones we love,” he says.
“It feels very nice that this story, which is very personal to me, was presented at such a prestigious film festival,” says Raja, who wrote the script and also directed the short film, adding, “I’ve had a few screenings in LA as well, and the feedback has been very promising.”
Talking about the reception, Raja says, “It was very heartening to listen to the guests at the screening talk about how they could really feel the characters, and the world of the film.”
Though Raja was born in Delhi, he did most of his schooling from Vijayawada, before leaving for the US for higher studies. “I had always been decent in studies and came to the US after my 12th, to do my Bachelors in Engineering. After two years, I realised I wasn’t passionate enough about that to be able to do it for the rest of my life. When I realised what I was interested in, I shifted gears and studied Art and Filmmaking in Mumbai, Melbourne and Los Angeles. I’ve made quite a few shorts so far, and a commercial in the recent past. Currently, I’m working on multiple projects as a first assistant director and script supervisor in Los Angeles. Along with that, I have been working on a couple of treatments and scripts in Telugu as well as in English,” says Raja.
Though two of Raja’s family members are prominent Tollywood personalities (his cousin is actor Ram and his uncle is producer Sravanthi Ravi Kishore), he preferred to make a mark on his own. “I’ve been travelling for the last 10 years as I wanted to have varied experiences and friends from all over the world. As a storyteller, which is how I see myself, and as a person, these experiences have been invaluable. But I definitely plan on making movies in India. My family in Tollywood has a proven track record and a standing in the industry. I’m a nobody there, and I need to be able to prove myself in TFI paradigm before I earn the right to work with them.”
