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Skiff - A journey through the middle

Skiff is a letter to my mother, on the birth of my daughter while on a pilgrimage to India.

  • Anu Vaidyanathan
    Director
  • Anu Vaidyanathan
    Writer
  • Anu Vaidyanathan
    Producer
  • Anu Vaidyanathan
    Key Cast
    "Voice"
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    17 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    May 30, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    8,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    India
  • Country of Filming:
    India
  • Language:
    English
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Anu Vaidyanathan

Anu Vaidyanathan is a filmmaker, comedian and engineer whose memoir Anywhere But Home was long-listed for the Mumbai Film Festival’s word-to-screen market in 2016. Her feature scripts have found themselves at the final rounds at Sundance and Rotterdam. As a comedian, she has gigged across greater Europe and London and has trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and Ecole Philippe Gaulier in France. “…Endurance is in the family.” (Harper’s Bazaar). “…inspiring, refreshing and full of surprises.” (Hindustan Times). “India’s Female Ironman” (Wall Street Journal). Her book and films are available on Amazon and on request.

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Director Statement

Skiff is an epistolatory film, a letter to my mom on the arrival of my daughter while on a pilgrimage to India. This was shot six months postpartum and is my first film. Over a million people congregate at the Kumbh Meal every year in India (pre-pandemic). I take an old, mythological tale and re-tell it - Shiva had two sons, Murugan and Ganapathy. He told them to go around the world three times. Murugan (more athletic, type-A) got on his steed and started the journey around the world. Ganapathy (more nerdy, quiet) kept eating. Murugan finished two rounds and was sure he would win, when Ganapathy got up and simply went around his parents (Shiva and Parvathi, three times). Like Ganapathy, I find a world in my mother and my grandmother, in the confluence of rivers (Ganga, Jamuna, Saraswathi) and I hope my daughter will discover similar experiences.