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Shamas

Set in England against the backdrop of a mass refugee crisis. Amongst the chaos and uncertainty of what lies ahead, is one young man who must question his own humanity when his need to survive takes precedence. How far is he willing to go?

  • Myriam Raja
    Director
    Tehzeeb, Khadejah
  • Myriam Raja
    Writer
  • Dominque Unsworth
    Producer
    Pull Tag Knot, Bulldogs, Daily Cycle, Khaedjah, Tehzeeb
  • James Downie
    Key Cast
  • Pano Matsi
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    12 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    October 25, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    150,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    2k
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • The London Short Film festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    February 16, 2017
Director - Myriam Raja
Director Statement

Shamas is the story of survival told through the eyes of an English refugee who must do all he can to ensure he boards the train to Europe, and to a brighter future. Mass migrations and displacements have happened all throughout history and it is something that deeply interests me. Particularly, stories of the displacement of over a million people during the partition of India and Pakistan is what spurned me on to write and make this short film.

Shamas deals with a number of themes and while it mostly focuses around a fictional migration crisis, the film’s aim is to explore the idea of survival and what that means when it comes in conflict with humanity. This is particularly important as I believe today, at least in the Western world, we have become desensitised with the idea of ‘surviving’ or having to go to great lengths to survive.