Written and directed by
Nikhil Prakash
| Going
South Written and directed by Nikhil Prakash |
|
 Rana Kangas-Kent |
Nikhil wrote this short film about a young couple of different ethnicities meeting the girl's parents for the first time. She's from Texas, he's from India. The girl, Sarah, played by Rana Kangas-Kent, simply has no faith in her parents. She believes they will behave like typical redneck bigots and be shocked, outraged and completely unaccepting. Hopefully, Dad won't whip out his shotgun. |  Satt |
 ;Left to right: Director Nikhil Prakash, Satt, Rana Kangas-Kent, Bonnie Steiger, Robbie Lee, and the all important camera. |
To avoid a confrontation for which she hasn't got the courage, she convinces Ameet, played by Satt, to dress like a cowboy and wear white face. Naturally, he is humiliated and embarrassed, but is completely bamboozled. But can he pass? Here we sit around the dinner table, well, except for me trying to control the situation. Notice the tapestry depicting the best known symbols of Texas, temporarily donated by Robbie Lee who plays Buck the father, a native Texan. He even brought his own shotgun. Forget about Subcontinental Indian culture shock; I was just barely dealing. |
 Buck, played by Robbie Lee, typecasting or what? |
 The meal starts off cordially enough. |
 Warm greetings from mom to the lovely couple. |
 Confusion and questions arise. Note the shotgun against the wall between us. |
The tension builds as the exotically accented Ameet makes excuses for not eating the Texas style chicken offered him, which, as a Hindu, he cannot eat. Avoidance gets tricky. Psychological games are played. The poor kid eventually throws up when cornered with a drumstick. He wipes his face and there goes his ghostly complexion. |
 Reaction to the hurling. |
 A pause between takes. |
 Rana helps crew reset spew for another take. |
As
it turns out, Sarah underestimates her parents. |
|
 Nikhil works out shot list while waiting for the very, very tardy crew to arrive. |
 Stephen Kopels - Director of Education for San Francisco School of Digital Filmmaking oversaw with a keen eye. |
 Josh Harris warms up the camera and takes a few shots. |
 Jenny Yeh was there to pick up the slack on all fronts. |
| Cast Crew |
