'Really special experience': Local filmmaker makes directorial debut at Chicago festival

Nov. 13—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Local filmmaker Aditi Sridhar made her directorial debut in this year's Chicago South Asian Film Festival with her movie "PIVOT," a narrative short film.

"It was a really special experience," Sridhar said.

The Richland High School graduate worked on the film during her junior year at the University of Pittsburgh's main campus with her director of photography and close friend Owen Gambill.

"PIVOT" was shot in Pittsburgh and tells the story of "a passionate and overworked dancer" named Anjani, played by Chitra Jagannathan, who gains admission to a prestigious graduate dance program in New York City.

After telling her boyfriend, Laksh, about her accomplishment, "his impulsive willingness to move for her causes Anjani to question the future of their relationship," which drives the codependent couple into psychological warfare.

Sridhar was born and raised in Johnstown, and she has a strong connection to her South Asian heritage. Her parents — who immigrated to the United States for graduate school — are natives of India. There was a small community in the region who helped her connect to her roots and enveloped her in that culture growing up.

Sridhar said "PIVOT" pushes the bounds of what South Asian representation can be.

What she's attempting to do is what famous Pittsburgh playwright August Wilson and others similar to him did — unapologetically share personal cultural experiences and identity, Sridhar said. She and Gambill are now working on a documentary about Wilson and his career.

Gambill said he was on board with "PIVOT" even before he read the script. He knew it would be amazing because Sridhar is a talented filmmaker, he said. When he did see the script, he fell in love with the story, he added.

The pair have worked together since 2020, after Gambill developed an interest in editing movies and a professor suggested they collaborate.

"There really isn't a moment we aren't on the same page," Gambill said.

He commended Sridhar's ability of conveying her stylistic vision, among other notable traits on set, such as her communication skills and relationships with actors.

"I could see her direction as I filmed," Gambill said.

Getting to debut the film to a South Asian audience was a special treat for the budding director.

The Chicago festival was the first Sridhar had heard back from and one she was looking forward to, although she admitted to being somewhat nervous when her short film was screened with a question-and-answer period that followed.

"It was just really cool to hear how people were reacting to it based on their own experiences," she said.

The South Asian-focused event — referring to countries such as India, Bangladesh and Nepal — is "one of the largest multicultural events in the heartland of America and is dedicated to advancing diversity in Chicagoland through cinema, conversation and culture," according to the CSAFF website.

At the end of the day, Sridhar said, as she and her crew watched "PIVOT" on the big screen, they were "so proud of the fact that we were able to make this film under a small budget with an all-student cast and crew" — only the lead actors were not in college at the time.

"This being her directorial debut — I don't think she could have done any better," Gambill said.

Because Sridhar has entered the film into multiple film festivals, it can't be published anywhere at this time, but once it's done making the rounds on the festival circuit, she wants to get it onto streaming services.