Goldfish, a film on dementia directed by Pushan Kriplani, produced by Amit Saxena’s Splendid Films (USA), with Pooja Chauhan serving as executive producer, premiered on the 20 and 21st of May at Cannes Festival 2022.
The film, starring Deepti Naval, Kalki Koechlin and Rajit Kapur, while touching upon a serious subject is one with a positive ending. Pooja highlighted that Goldfish was one of the first films to find the floor after the second wave hit the UK. Since the cast and crew was from around the world, it was tough to deal with institutional quarantine, tests, and location restrictions.
In the discussion, the producers touched upon the challenge of producing the film in a pandemic era and following health and safety protocols. Also as Kalki’s first film after becoming a mother presented an additional need to ensure the safety of all on set. They further highlighted that the film is beyond a niche art film but also not one with many commercial elements. However, it is a film for everyone since it questions identity and being a third culture child. The film is about a mother and daughter played by Deepti Naval and Kalki, shot in a limited space in London.
Amit Saxena noted that he hopes the film gets as much attention as a commercial film does since it is a story uniquely presenting a grave issue like dementia with many happy moments. The way forward for this film is to be able to reach a global distributor’s notice, he noted. Goldfish was screened twice at Cannes and the producers believe in its global appeal and they hope it can reach as many people as possible around the world.
Watch the complete session below: