Private Project

Every Man A King

Rishi and Kimya are young professionals and long-time partners living together in their compact San Francisco highrise. While getting ready for a weekend glamping trip, Kimya receives news of a major job offer - one that would make her the higher earner amongst the two. As they leave their bustling metropolis and descend into the primal throes of nature, Rishi’s repressed feelings surrounding the changing dynamic of their relationship slowly bubble up, leading him to take drastic measures in order to retain a sense of manhood.

  • Nikhil Ganesh
    Director
    PALY (2020)
  • Nikhil Ganesh
    Writer
    PALY (2020)
  • Josh Belong
    Writer
  • Neil Thekdi
    Producer
    PALY (2020)
  • Ashwin Mehta
    Key Cast
  • Divya Sethi
    Key Cast
    Extrapolations (Apple TV, 2023), Billions (2019)
  • Ayinde Anderson
    Director of Photography
    North Hollywood (2021), Cinnamon (2023), PALY (2020)
  • Jade Spiers
    Production Designer
    Who Invited Them (2022), The Bone Box (2020)
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes 47 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 15, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    16mm Film
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Nikhil Ganesh

Nikhil Ganesh is an Indian-American writer & director from Silicon Valley. His work, inspired by his diverse upbringing, looks to explore identity, technology, and the changing modern landscape. Nikhil’s films have played and won awards at festivals around the world including LA Shorts, Aesthetica, New Delhi International Film Festival and more. His last film, Paly was accepted to Jim Cumming’s Short-To-Feature Lab, released as a Vimeo Staff Pick in 2021, and is currently being developed into a feature film.

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Director Statement

‘Every Man A King’ is at its core, a personal excavation. What began as an earnest portrait of a modern relationship, ended up morphing into a therapeutic self-examination for me and my collaborators alike. It’s a film that, through its process, forced me to acknowledge my own shortcomings as a man. EMAK doesn’t heavy-handedly examine the extremities of toxic masculinity, but rather explores the more subtle impulses in the men we know and even care for - those who may see themselves as progressive in their worldview, but when pushed to a breaking point, find something else bubbling under the surface.

In our current climate, I fear filmmakers and filmgoers alike have attenuated their appetite for art that challenges its viewers - films that may feel uncomfortable or ambiguous in its messaging. I aim to present a flawed reality, unobstructed by a moralizing judgment, but confronting in its familiarity. Do you know someone like this? Is it possible you may see elements of yourself in this character? With this film, I hope to reacclimate audiences to cinema as a vehicle of self-reflection - one that will encourage viewers to connect with this film as personally in its viewing as I did in its creation.