"From October 31 to November 3, 1984, thousands of Sikhs were hunted and murdered by government-orchestrated mobs throughout India following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

[Before this was the] Indian Army’s June 1984 assault on Darbar Sahib and dozens of other gurdwaras throughout Punjab. Code-named Operation Bluestar by the Indian government, this coordinated attack claimed the lives of thousands of innocent Sikhs.

As we recognize the [anniversaries] of these atrocities, it is important to understand the deep history of these events and the issues of state repression and impunity that are still relevant today. It is estimated that tens of thousands of Sikhs were killed starting in 1984 and continuing into the 1990s. According to eyewitnesses and human rights activists, the killings were organized by government officials and facilitated by police officials. Unfortunately, 40 years later, the Indian government continues to deny appropriate justice to the victims and survivors of the massacres." ~ The Sikh Coalition

This film follows Balwinder, a 60 year old survivor of the events of November 1984. We find her in present day California, making a living as a hospice nurse. She lives an isolated lifestyle, in a sparsely decorated apartment, with her only outings being the Sikh community meetings once a week. 

One of her new patients is Tony, a Vietnam War veteran who has 6 months to live. As she attends to him, she learns that he lost his daughter in a car accident many years ago. Following these two characters, we'll see two very different expressions of grief come together. 

When developing the script, it was important for us to make sure we told this story as authentically as possible. My producer and I went out and interviewed real survivors of what happened in '84. We recorded their experiences, feelings, and how life was for them post-immigration. All of this research went to informing Balwinder's character and ensuring we accurately portrayed this experience on screen.

Visually inspired by the natural cinematography of films like Aftersun, Perfect Days, and Another Round, we want to lean into a more observational approach. Almost like a documentary, our aim is to invite viewers into the authentic, everyday lives of our characters. From the intimate, private moments of domestic life to the shared moments of connection, we want to give the space to allow the characters' stories to unfold organically.

References:

In October after I graduated college, I visited Punjab, India for the first time in twelve years with my mom. Growing up in America, this opportunity provided me with the chance to reconnect with my cousins, uncles, and A LOT of nephews. I had the time to re-embrace myself with the culture, and learn a lot more about my people.

More specifically, my mom took me to the Golden Temple museum and that's where I learned about what happened to the Sikh People in 1984. It was a visceral, impactful feeling. I was staring at paintings and exhibitions of injustice and I felt tears streaming down my face.I found myself crying because while those things didn’t happen to me, they happened to me in a sense. My life wasn’t my own anymore; instead I learned that my very existence was a testament to the survival of my people.

At its surface, Mirrors is a story about a mother struggling with the loss of her child. But on a deeper level, this is a film about showing the resilience of the members of our community. This is a story about survivors. Through Balwinder and Tony’s relationship, we will see two perspectives of grief, and two distinct ways of living in the aftermath of trauma. This is a story about unrelenting loss, but it’s also a story about persevering through every day; It’s an ode to the human spirit. It's a film that aims to educate, inspire, and ultimately help a marginalized community heal together.

I believe movies make us feel less alone, and it's my hope that this project shines a light on the power of empathy and kindness in our darkest times.

It’s imperative these stories are told from the people who should tell them. I want this film to speak to decades of trauma, and I want to utilize my platform to provide some form of visual justice, however small it may be.

-Harsimran Sandhu

We need to reach at least 80% of our goal to receive funds through Seed and Spark.

If we don’t hit this mark, we don’t receive any money at all.

This is a story that’s incredibly important to us, but in order for us to give this story the justice it deserves, we need to meet our goal. Our budget of $20,000 would cover all costs regarding production and post-production, with a priority on paying our cast and crew.

Specifically, with your help we’d be able to:

• Rent camera and sound equipment
• Source culturally accurate production design
• Rent locations and receive permits
• Provide fair wages for our cast and crew

If we reach our goal, that means we have the base budget needed to make this movie! But if we raise more, we can reach our stretch goals to help afford everything that would make this production just as we dreamt it:

At $25,000, we would be able to hire an on-set therapist for any cast and crew members as we're dealing with serious topics and we want to make sure everyone is feeling comfortable and safe.

At $35,000, we'd be able to spend a weekend filming with a Bay Area Sikh youth organization, Jakara, and have real community members be extras in our scenes!

My previous film, Pulp, followed a first generation senior in college who, in the process of composing an original piece for an upcoming violin audition, comes to terms with the roots of her burnout, anxiety, and pressure she’s faced in college. 

We premiered at festivals such as the Silicon Valley Asian Pacific Film Festival, Coronado Island Film Festival, Cinequest Film Festival, and the Tasveer Film Festival. (which is the only South Asian Oscar-Qualifying festival in the world!)

You can check it out here!

As we embarked on this project, my producer and I agreed on one thing before starting: we want to involve the community.

We are telling the story of our people, and it's important to us that we involve them as much as possible. We've been in talks and hopefully want to partner/collaborate with various Sikh-American and South Asian organizations across California. These are groups such as:

The Jakara Movement: A grassroots community-building organization working to empower, educate, and organize Punjabi Sikhs, and other marginalized communities.

Ensaaf: a nonprofit organization working to end impunity and achieve justice for crimes against humanity in India, with a special focus on Punjab.

We are currently in PRE-PRODUCTION.

Our biggest priorities right now are casting, location scouting and rehearsals. Our talented team is operating out of both the Bay Area and Los Angeles, and we've been hard at work in finding the perfect set to film at. Once we finalize casting and locations, we plan to have in-person rehearsals to workshop and build chemistry with our two leads; it's important that we nail authentic performances, so we're completely open to revising the script and allowing space for improv.

We want every piece of this film to be intentional. What this means is that we've been involving all production heads in story conversations from the beginning. We've been meeting with our Sound Design, Score, and PD teams to receive their input and ideas on the script. These heads are the experts in their departments after all, and rather than making this a top down production, we want it to be collaborative. Questions like "What does PTSD sound like?" and "How can we nail that ear-piercing silence that comes with loneliness?" are already being explored.

Every department has their chance to bring this story to life, and we want to empower our team as much as possible while remaining true to our vision.

In July, we'll hop into PRODUCTION.

We'll bring this script to life with the help of our very talented crew!

From August-October, we'll be working hard on POST PRODUCTION.

Editing, editing, and even more editing. We'll spend these three next three months (gladly) cooped up in our editor's room, putting the film together and pulling it apart again until we're satisfied enough to have picture lock. Our goal is to finish before October so we can enter the winter festival circuit!

From October and beyond, we'll be applying for FILM FESTIVALS.

With a story as impactful as this, we're hoping to premiere at one of the big three: TIFF, Sundance, and SXSW. Beyond that, we want to target film festivals that we premiered at before, such as the Tasveer Festival in Seattle, and ones that focus on promoting South Asian and AAPI short films, like the San Diego Asian American Film Festival. We also want to hold local screenings for our friends and family, then release this film publicly online!

We have a responsibility greater than us to tell this story.

My producer and I have been working full time to ensure we raise the necessary funds so we can film this in July, but we need your help! In order for us to reach this ambitious goal, we need to reach as many people as possible. Tell your friends, coworkers, and classmates! Anything is appreciated, genuinely!

Great things aren't done alone, and we're grateful to welcome you and have you play an important part in getting this story out there.

Be sure to follow us on Seed and Spark; once we hit 250 followers, we'll have access to special creator tools and discounts!

Follow us on Instagram @mirrors.shortfilm to stay updated and see how the production is going!

Thank you so much for all of your help. Even if you just read this, it means the world to us. If you ever want to reach out personally, my email is [email protected].

Let's make a movie.