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Reflection

Reflection is a story about a 12-year-old girl battling death.
Her confrontation with her existence makes her realize and
accept the nuances of love and life.

  • Puja Aparna Kolluru
    Director
    Blue Will
  • Puja Aparna Kolluru
    Writer
  • Casey Nelson
    Producer
  • Rozlyn Pell
    Key Cast
  • Cecil Washington Jr.
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    May 2, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    3,300 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    RED
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes
Director Biography - Puja Aparna Kolluru

Puja Kolluru is a filmmaker from India. She’s graduating from Ringling College of Art and Design May 2017 and aspiring to be a director. Puja has a unique style of integrating experimentalism into narrative films. She adds an extra layer to regular stories creating a form of visual poetry. Her previous project ‘Blue Will’ is a good example of her style and she won ‘Best Junior Film’ award for it last year. Her skills are not limited to directing, she loves cinematography and writing equally. She worked as a cinematographer for a horror film named ‘Ronnie’ in her Junior year. Last summer she worked as a camera operator for a lot of commercials and digital content at Cake Mix Studios, Hasbro.

Puja brought all three of her skills into light in ‘Reflection’ and hopes to create a lasting impression on audience through her style of storytelling. She applied to top film schools in L.A to pursue directing and she got into USC and Chapman University. She’s eagerly waiting to hear about financial aid and excited take the next step in her career along with working on some documentaries with local NGOs in Sarasota.

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Director Statement

‘Reflection’ is a story inspired from Athena Orchard’s life. A 12-year-old girl diagnosed with a rare bone cancer left a secret message to be found by her family after her death. She wrote a series of beautiful quotes on love, life, and acceptance of death that could resonate with everybody at various levels.

After reading more about Athena I realized that it is not just another sad cancer story. It didn’t just make me feel sympathy; rather it made me feel a certain compassion and appreciation of life, making me realize the importance of people in my life. That’s the moment I decided Athena’s story needed to be told.

Every one of us is caught up in our own little universe that we built for ourselves. Our petty problems, our egos, the flaws we find in others, make us not even look at a person with different eyes. But when this little universe of ours is taken away from us we realize how each person who’s a part of it is so important, and we all share the same battles that we don’t know how to fight.

A young girl of 12 illustrated this beautifully with the few words that she could fit in the back of her mirror. Her world was collapsing, she couldn’t go to prom, she couldn’t feel the warmth of that stolen kiss, she didn’t get her heart broken and she couldn’t make many mistakes that changed her. But, she changed hundreds around her by conveying the importance of these
simple things in life that we take for granted. Dealing with cancer and the realization of her inevitable death made Athena take a step back and think about life and accept what comes with it. And, it made me realize that life is bigger than it’s parts and at times we should step back and appreciate it.