By: Jesse Anders
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 10/5/20 – One Little Finger, written and directed by Rupam Sarmah, premiered at the Festival de Cannes (Cannes Film Festival). The first of its kind, the film is based on real-life stories of people with disabilities with more than 80 such people with disabilities acting in the film. To date, the film which will be released on November 16, has received over 30 film festival laurels worldwide.
One Little Finger is about an American neurologist, Raina (Tamela D’Amico), who uproots her life in the United States to study music therapy in India but ends up helping people with disabilities by bringing them together through music and inspiring them to challenge themselves. Music therapy is an integral part of One Little Finger and many Grammy and Oscar-winning artists, including Quincy Jones, Julian Lennon, Siedah Garrett, Kechi Okwuchi, Kevin Mackie, Sumitra Guha, and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt are involved with the film’s soundtrack. The background score is composed by Pulitzer Prize-nominated Stephen Melillo, along with Sarmah.
Multi-hyphenate, talented Hollywood actress, Tamela D’Amico, leads this cast. Joining her is Siedah Garrett who plays her mentor and Jonathan Stoddard who plays her boyfriend. The multi-award-winning South Indian actress, Abhinaya, who is really hearing and speech impaired, and other well-known actors from India, including Moloya Goswami, Jaya Seal Ghosh, Pabitra Rabha, and Surajit Sarmah, among others, are also in the film.
One Little Finger was shot in Jorhat, Sivasagar, Guwahati, and Hajo in Assam, India with Rangghar, Kamakhya temple, and naamghars featuring in it, as well as in Kolkata and the United States.
The film, produced by Sarmah in association with RJ Productions International USA, will be officially released in the United States on November 16, 2020, on all platforms.
Sarmah, a musician, filmmaker, entrepreneur, and scientist, was born in Jorhat. He was interested in music from a young age. Later, he learned instruments and classical vocals while continuing to explore fields like films, sound engineering, and music. He migrated to the US in 1992, after completing his BTech. He did his masters in management, computer science, and Ph.D. from US universities and lives with his family in California. Sarmah achieved a Guinness World Record on February 24, 2013, for A Musical Journey for World Peace, where more than 500 participants from across the globe played 315 musical instruments.
ONE LITTLE FINGER
Narrative Feature
Film Length: 1 hr 45 min
Genre: Drama | Human Rights | Disability & Diversity | Children
Language: English Written and Directed by Rupam Sarmah
Official Release: November 16, 2020
THEME: (Ability in Disability)
Based on real-life stories of persons with disabilities Acted by over 80 children and adults with disabilities.
SYNOPSIS:
When an American neurologist, Raina, uproots her life to research music therapy in India, she finds herself teaching children and adults with disabilities by bringing them together through music and inspiring them to challenge themselves through their abilities.
Den and Angel are persons with disabilities who want to contribute to the betterment of society by overcoming their physical challenges. As Den and Angel come of age, they learn to cope with abuse and bullying. Their lives intersect when Raina struggles to further her research.
Raina’s philosophy and life are changed with the time that she spent in India, where she is touched by the beauty of Indian culture and real-life stories of children with disabilities. Through her experience, she understands that balance of mind, body, and soul are vital aspects in realizing the true values of life. Disability is only what we perceive, ability is everything of what we believe.
MAIN CAST & CREW:
Tamela D’Amico (Raina, an American Neurologist)
Siedah Garrett (Dr. Claudia)
M.G. Abhinaya (Angel, a girl with hearing impairment) Sayomdeb Mukherjee (Den, a person with a genetic disorder/cerebral palsy)
Jeeja Ghosh Nag (Jeeja, a person with cerebral palsy) Malaya Goswami (Dr. Sen, Director of Institute)
Jaya Seal Ghosh (Mrs. Bohra, Angel’s mother)
Pabitra Rabha (Abdul Hamid, Angel’s father)
Jonathan Stoddard (Max, Raina’s boyfriend)
Kushal Chakrabarty (Den’s father)
Soumili Ghosh Biswas (Den’s mother)
Alakananda Ray (Radha, a Philosopher)
ACTORS WITH DISABILITIES Sayomdeb Mukherjee, M. G. Abhinaya, Jeeja Ghosh Nag, Abhirup Chakrabarty, Leo, Evelyn Armstrong, Sayan Sarkar, Subrodeep Bhattacharya, Sraboni Naskar, Akash Byapari, Ayush Prasad, Bunty Das, Priyanka Das, Anirban Biswas, Aatrayee Bose, Debojit Ghosh, Shivam Khanna, Swapnil Shaw, Aditya Karnani, Shreya Sammadar, Sarthak Jha, Rajdeep Paul, Anjali Mishra, Swati Sharma, Rahul Kr. Sahoo, Saurav Halder, Soham Halder, Vivek Kumar, Debayan Mukherjee, Aasish Jha, Sudhanshu Sekhar Mondal, Kuntal Samanta, Archan Dutta, Shankar Narayan Shaha, Kushal Lakhani, Sanhita De, Sanjib Patra, Arpita Dutta, Abhiroop Ghosh, Gitali Saha, Tapajyoti Dey, Sounak Roy, Sujay Mondal, Sayan Paul, Mayank Agarwal, Subhayan Roy, Souvik Das, Avrojit Dutta, Soumajit Mondal, Subrojit Mondal, Swastik Dey, Debojhoti Adhikary, Shruti Nevtia, Debojani Gogoi, Akangkhya Pegu, Simi Bora, Bitu Bora, Dhrubajyoti Goswami, Nazmaira Begum, Jagat Bora, Nilutpal Dutta, Bornali Saikia, Manasjyoti Baruah, Mrityunjoy Roy, Sudipta Thakur, Zafrinawaz, Rana Bora, Nasir Ahmed, Dipu Moni Saikia, David Pangjok, Ganesh Mondal., Shyam Sundar Gupta, Dolly Mishra, Santosh Prasad, Riya Ala, Rohit Kumar Prasad, Avishek Ray, Sadiya Khatoon, Nekitara, B. Goutami, Jay Bhattacharjee, Sankha Saha, Pankaj Mishra
Media Partners: PRERONA Spastics Society, Monovikas Kendra, UNESCO Center for Peace, UNESCO-USFUCA, IN THE MIRROR MUSIC, ABERRANT SOUND, The White Feather Foundation, LBR Music, ForestNation, BrownOut Studios, Barn Castle, maZumba Media, RJ International
Awards List: http://www.onelittlefinger.
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