Street Soldiers
Street Soldiers is the story of a young insecure teenager named Sunny, whose life gets turned upside down after an unfortunate turn of events, where his father, a police officer is killed while off duty. Tormented by bullies in his new rough neighbourhood, in self –preservation, Sunny, turns towards gang members of his own ethnicity for protection. The choices he makes along the way, dictate the consequences he must face, in his life as a street soldier.
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Jay WaliaDirector
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Lily AhluwaliaDirector
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Jay WaliaWriter
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Jay WaliaProducer
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Ron WaliaProducer
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Sid SawantKey Cast
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Nish RaisiKey Cast
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Lionel BoodlalKey Cast
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Afroz KhanKey Cast
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Steve KasanKey Cast
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Sachel MetooKey Cast
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Shruti ShahKey Cast
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Sanskrit ThuraiKey Cast
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Jasmine SawantKey Cast
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Project Type:Feature
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Genres:Drama, Action, Crime
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Runtime:1 hour 45 minutes
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Completion Date:January 31, 2016
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Production Budget:50,000 USD
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Country of Origin:Canada
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Country of Filming:Canada
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:No
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Houston Worldfest Film FestivalHouston, Texas
United States
Remi Award -
TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX THEATREToronto
Canada
February 26, 2016
North American Private Screening
Mississauga Arts Council - Honourable Mention
Jay Walia has always had a very keen interest in both audio and video development. From a young age Jay would create music mix-tapes, cutting and remixing audio streams while fusing different genre of music into its own unique sound. After years of mixing music, Jay started working in video production, creating his own brand of short films made under his label, About Time Productions. Jay took a strong interest in both video production and dramatic arts in high school. Several of his short films and performances were recognized with certificates of merit and screened in video seminars. Jay moved on to writing his own screenplays and short stories for production.
Then he assistant directed on student film entitled “Waiting”, which won the best short film of 2004 at the Ryerson Shorts Film Festival. Next Jay went on to shoot his first co-written project where he was the assistant director, a 12 minute short entitled” What Happened That Evening.” The film was very well-received by audiences and was specially commended by the Mayor’s Office.
Jay then wrote and co-directed a 30 minute short romantic-comedy called “I Do. Do I?” this film screened to several packed houses with great excitement, it has been shown at several Film Festivals and events including Mosaic Film Festival, Filmi South Asian Film Festival, Night at the Indies and Masala Mehndi Masti Best Shorts Night. The film was also picked up by a distributor, Ouat Media, who has aired it on several television stations and shorts movie nights. The film was shown at the Houston WorldFest Film Festival, where it won the Gold Remi Award for Best Short Romantic Comedy for 2010.
Jay Walia has now completed working on a full length feature film, the screenplay entitled “Street Soldiers” which he has written, directed and edited. Street Soldiers tells the story of second generation South Asian-Canadian kids and the difficulties growing up in society, the challenges they face to fit in and the struggles to be accepted. . The protagonist, Sunny, is tormented by bullies in a rough neighbourhood, in self –preservation, Sunny, turns towards other kids of his own ethnicity who happen to be gang members for protection. His choices dictate the consequence he must face.
This passion project has been in production for the last 4 years and is finally ready for screening.
Jay continues to write other feature films projects for production as well. His passion and knowledge grows everyday for the art of film making as he continues to learn more about his craft through hard work and experience.
About time productions is a company who‘s concept is, to bring about change in the landscape of Canadian film. We are a company that makes films on relevant social topics. We want to use this medium to breakdown social stereotypes and educate people about other cultures. In this day and age when differences are pulling us apart, we want show how similarities can bring us together. We believe that Canada‘s uniqueness comes from its diversity. We feel that our differences should not divide us, but unite us in a common national pride which can be shown through film.