Northern California to Vancouver in 24 hours

The latest short film by Cinema alumna and Lecturer Anjali Sundaram is part memoir, part fiction. Set against the first Persian Gulf War in 1990, “Canada” is the story of a young, half-Indian girl named Jaina and her broke, free-spirited, flaky mother as they attempt to move from Northern California to Vancouver in a Volkswagen bug.

Sundaram’s personal life has a strong influence on her work. Her mixed ethnicity and peripatetic childhood somewhat mirror the experiences of Jaina in “Canada,” written and directed by Sundaram (M.F.A., ’07). The 16-minute film screened in April at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and last year at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival.

Outwardly, very little happens in the film’s 24-hour time span—the car breaks down, gets fixed and the family gets back on the road. The drama is psychological, augmented by the confined space of the car and a transient lifestyle. As a result, Jaina’s family is highly dependent on one another and barely connected to the outside world.

“Canada” is Sundaram’s first narrative work, having previously focused on experimental and documentary films. An earlier experimental piece, “Buckle My Shoe,” won Slamdance’s global Anarchy online competition and screened at the Slamdance Film Festival in 2002. She is also co-editor of the 1991 book “A Decade of War: El Salvador Confronts the Future,” published by Monthly Review Press.