Experiencing Interruptions?

Mannequin

Tunde, a Nigerian craftsman at a mannequin shop, finds solace in creating mannequin art but faces discrimination from his boss, Jane, who steals his designs. Frustrated, he confronts her and is given a demeaning diversity commission. Tunde completes it with his unique Afro-inspired touch, but Jane forces him to destroy it. Devastated, Tunde repaints his mannequins plain and transforms himself into a mannequin as a final artistic statement. Jane finds his act compelling and uses it as the shop's marquee display.

  • Ramgopal Rajagopalan
    Director
    Oh My Cow
  • Avery Chapman
    Writer
  • Ramgopal Rajagopalan
    Producer
    Spiral
  • Jenna May Borque
    Producer
    Epicideon
  • Joydeep Bose
    Producer
    Once A Boy
  • Elly Hirani Clapin
    Key Cast
    "Jane"
    Dinner with Friends (2018), The Whole Package (2019) and Tabernacle 101 (2019)
  • David Ashby
    Key Cast
    "Tunde"
    Justin's Got Cancer
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    12 minutes 25 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 1, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    5,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • SUNDAR PRIZE FILM FESTIVAL
    Vancouver
    Canada
    April 11, 2025
    BC Premiere
    Official Selection
  • REEDY REELS FILM FESTIVAL
    Greenville, SC
    United States
    March 29, 2025
    SC Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Bleeding Tree International Film Festival
    Creston
    Canada
    May 2, 2025
    Best Emerging Filmmaker Award
  • ConCarolinas
    North Carolina
    United States
    May 30, 2025
    North Carolina
    Official Selection
  • ALLENTOWN FILM FESTIVAL
    Allentown
    United States
    April 13, 2025
    Official Selection
  • OOTY SHORT FILM FESTIVAL
    Ooty
    India
    December 26, 2024
    Official Selection
  • PULLING FOCUS' AFRICAN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL of THE QUAD CITIES
    Iowa
    United States
    June 5, 2025
    Official Selection
  • LOVE & HOPE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
    Barcelona
    Spain
    October 7, 2025
    Official Selection
  • FABLE FOREST FILM FESTIVAL
    Kitchener
    Canada
    November 2, 2024
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Ramgopal Rajagopalan

Ram Rajagopalan is an emerging filmmaker based out of Vancouver, BC, Canada. His stories have consistently made it to the Top 40s at prestigious local film festivals like Crazy8s and Run N Gun. A recent alumni of Vancouver Film School, he has produced three noteworthy shorts - Spiral, Mannequin and Oh My Cow ) of which the last two he also directed. He has worked on other roles like 1st AD, Script Supervisor, DOP in different student film projects while at VFS.

Prior to filmmaking Ram spent close to two decades in the technology industry leading product and software teams for Amazon and BlackBerry. He is passionate about building creative teams. The zest for visual storytelling made him take a few part time courses in Toronto (Metropolitan University, and The Second City) a few years back. He eventually decided to pursue filmmaking full time. He loves telling stories that are inspired by real life experiences.

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Director Statement

Mannequin’s story is close to my heart as it is inspired by my friend and fellow filmmaker in Vancouver. More often than not nobody wants to sit next to him, even in crowded trains and buses. He finds this experience of being marginalized frustrating. To an extent that his wife and him have decided to move out of BC. My hope is to bring forth some awareness about passive racism through this story. I want to weave in elements of horror and mystery to make the irony and impact stronger. My intention is for the audience to leave with a few burning questions. Passive racism is hard to fight as it happens subconsciously at many levels. This bias is based on centuries of oppression and prejudices that have made their way into our daily lives. The film aspires to bring forth the emotions by exploring the boundaries of creativity, racial identity and validation. Being marginalized is a real problem in our society. And done passively it can push someone to the edge.
I have always loved telling stories inspired by real life incidents. It started with street theater in India two decades ago, where I had written and performed plays pertaining to current affairs. Fast forward to 2024, with Mannequin, my objective is to bring awareness to the topic of passive racism and marginalization.