Indian short film ‘Kamali’ shortlisted for 2020 Oscars

Kamali Moorthy gained worldwide recognition as the nine year old skateboarding extraordinaire from Tamil Nadu when she caught the attention of skateboarding legend Tony Hawk. Now, a short film on Moorthy and her mother titled ‘Kamali’, directed by New Zealand director Sasha Rainbow has been shortlisted for the 2020 Academy Awards.

As according to India Today, ‘Kamali’ tells the story of how Moorthy’s single mother Suganth raised her to be a top skateboarder while living in a traditional society. Moorthy’s mentor Aine Edwards spoke about the short film to The News Minute, saying, “When Suganthi (Kamali’s mother) sees her children, she reflects on her childhood and how she could not do the things she wished to do because of the society. Today, she wants Kamali to taste the freedom she did not have. The crew came and shot the film over six weeks. After it was edited, they even sent it to the Mumbai International Short Film Festival in December 2018, where it won Best Director Award.”

‘Kamali’ also won the ‘Best Documentary Short’ award at the Atlanta Film Festival this past April.