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Jamie's Wager

With the unexpected death of his father, Jamie finds himself in the middle of his Muslim uncle, Hafiz, and his father’s New-Age girlfriend, Alicia, at the office of William's Funeral Directors.

Presented with a series of burial options catering for every religious denomination, uncertain about his father’s beliefs, or his own, he finds himself at a crossroads between religious tradition and his secular upbringing. Should he be buried as a Muslim? Or was he a modern day “spiritual?”

  • Sean Kardar
    Director
  • Sean Kardar
    Writer
  • Derkan Dogan
    Producer
  • Raha Mahamoud
    Producer
  • Amy Booth-Steel
    Key Cast
    "Tracy"
    One Day (2024), Coronation Street (1960), Blue Jean (2022) and Nolly (2023), Nolly, Stath Lets Flats, Call the Midwife, Doctor Who, The Year of the Rabbit, The Windsors.
  • Usaamah Hussain
    Key Cast
    "Jamie"
    Brown Boys Swim, Peanut Butter and Blueberries
  • Mushi Noor
    Key Cast
    "Hafiz"
    Coronation Street, Lies We Tell, My Kingdom.
  • Kate Maravan
    Key Cast
    "Alicia"
    Pan Tau (Caligari Films), Holby City, Giri/Haji (Netflix), Safe (Netflix), Lewis, Miranda, The Politician's Husband, Emmerdale, Absolute Power, Broken News. Film includes 6Underground (Netflix).
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    16 minutes 27 seconds
  • Production Budget:
    17,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, Alexa Mini
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Sean Kardar

Sean is the son of a Vietnamese mother and a Pakistani father. Born in the banlieue of Paris in 1986, he moved to London at the age of six, a city he has come to call home.

His late father, AJ Kardar, was the first filmmaker from Pakistan to submit a Film to The Academy Awards "Jago Hua Savera" in 1960 and went on to achieve international festival recognition.

Sean's Vietnamese family are part of the French diaspora that fled the war in Vietnam.

Having graduated in Film Studies at Queen Mary University in 2007, he spent his early years competing in international martial arts tournaments, travelling the world, representing the country fulfilling his ambitions of an athlete achieving European and World honors.

Sean is currently based in London working as a freelance DOP | Cam Operator | Solo shooter working in unscripted sports entertainment as well as providing his services to corporates and brands.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The story of Jamie’s Wager was inspired by conversations surrounding the passing of both my father AJ Kardar and my eldest brother, Karim Kardar.

In both instances there were family disagreements about how they should be honoured during their funeral. Both free spirited, it wasn’t evident how exactly they should be religiously defined upon their deaths. In this sense, the film is a simple family drama about a modern multicultural family in conflict about how to organise a funeral ceremony for someone whose religious beliefs were in question.

My intention was to juxtapose the ethereal and emotional phenomenon in dealing with death against the bureaucratic process of organising a funeral ceremony. In a world of labels and products, funerals become a shopping transaction. A somewhat dark but amusing experience at the same time.

As a third culture kid who was brought up a Christian, became agnostic and later found Islam, I feel Jamie's character speaks to a generation who are detached from their cultural roots and in search of a cultural identity and a sense of spirituality.

I find the search for spirituality in a secular society a fascinating subject to explore. Something I’m keen on developing in my writing/directing career.

I hope the films serves as a tool to spark conversations surrounding the inevitable nature of death and the questions that surround it, how do we prepare for it, what happens after it. I also hope it encourages debate around the practice of spirituality and religion in secular societies.