Experiencing Interruptions?

Java Sparrows/Natsume Soseki's Buncho

A boy frees a pair of caged Java Sparrows- is this a flight of freedom or death ?

  • PRASHANT PANDEY
    Director
  • PRASHANT PANDEY
    Writer
  • PRASHANT PANDEY
    Producer
  • ABEER BHASKAR
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short
  • Genres:
    DRAMA
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    December 15, 2016
  • Production Budget:
    1,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    India
  • Country of Filming:
    India
  • Shooting Format:
    DIGITAL
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - PRASHANT PANDEY

Prashant Pandey is a writer-director based in Mumbai. He is a graduate of English Literature from Hansraj College, University of Delhi, and a post-graduate from AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi where he specialized in Scriptwriting and Direction, and made a graduation film, ‘Saturday’.
He volunteered and worked with the Centre For Civil Society and was part of their Screening Committee for the first Asia Livelihood Documentary Film Festival, ‘Jeevika’. He worked as a producer and writer-director with India’s largest music talent road show for children, ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs’, for Zee Television Network before starting out as a full time writer on many mainstream Bollywood films.
Prashant is passionate and committed to work on difficult and alternate narratives as well as entertaining commercial films.

The following are the awards that he has won/been nominated for:

Audience Award (Indo-British Digital Film Festival, 2004) for his short film, ‘Good News’

Best Screenplay (Apsara Film Producers Guild Awards, 2009) for ‘Sarkar Raj’

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Director Statement

The film Java Sparrows is a film tribute to the celebrated Japanese writer Natsume Soseki's zuihitsu (essay) "Buncho". An evocative poignant diary on the death of a caged sparrow he owned as a pet. When the sparrows died of neglect, he suffered from guilt. The essay made me think about life choices of "exotic" birds or pets. I interviewed many pet shop owners and learnt to my discomfort that sky doesn't suit all birds. Even while making the film, I suffered from an enormous guilt because I didn't want the uncaged birds to die. So the bird supplier suggested the fastest & the fittest- an imported Java. Central to the construct is a format of image bursts - a ceaseless repetition that finally engulfs the fates of sakura buncho( Java Sparrows) and his liberator.