Living Through India’s Kerala Floods Inspired Jude Anthany Joseph To Make ‘2018 – Everyone Is A Hero’ – Contenders International

Diana Lodderhose
·2 min read
Living Through India’s Kerala Floods Inspired Jude Anthany Joseph To Make ‘2018 – Everyone Is A Hero’ – Contenders International
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2018 Everyone Is a Hero writer-director Jude Anthany Joseph was a victim of the 2018 Kerala floods in southern India, a catastrophic natural disaster that was the worst flood to hit the region in more than a century.

“My house was flooded, and it happened so quickly that in the morning after it happened, I had to run away from my house with my parents,” the Indian filmmaker said. “I had taken them to my sister’s place. My wife and kids were not in the home because they were at a wedding.”

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Recalling the complete shock and devastation that happened to him and those around him, the writer-director admits he was fearful for his life.

“For four or five days, it was raining continuously, and I thought it would be the end of my life,” he said. “I thought I wouldn’t be able to meet my family again. Once the flood was over, there was an NGO that asked me to make a video of this flood to give hope for the people who are still alive that life is not over yet.”

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Joseph went through all of the videos and news stories covering the event and found that there was a “huge success story” beneath it all. “I thought I should make it a film so the whole world could know about this story,” he said.

India’s official Oscar entry 2018 Everyone Is a Hero is thriller from Kavya Film Company that’s set during the 2018 Kerala floods where people from all walks of life faced catastrophic consequences and put in collective efforts to survive the calamity. The floods ultimately killed more than 480 people.

Joseph’s film is set in a ficitional village and follows characters from all walks of life as they struggle to deal with the flood. He and producer Venu Kunnappily explain in detail the process of creating the project, which is India’s official submission to the Best International Feature Oscar race for 2024.

Check out the panel video above.

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