Vadodara: A 26-year-old filmmaker who grew up on Anand’s IRMA campus has earned a place at one of the world’s premier platforms for short cinema, with his film “Standing Up” officially selected for the 30th LA Shorts International Film Festival, an Oscar and BAFTA-qualifying event.Born in Mumbai and raised in Anand, Gagandeep Singh Gill said his film was inspired by his own experience as an Indian immigrant in the US and a chance encounter that changed his perspective on storytelling.Gill, whose mother, Dr Madhavi Mehta, is a professor at the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), credits his upbringing on the campus and the values instilled by his parents and grandparents for shaping his stories around community and human connections.An alumnus of Anandalaya School, Gill pursued electrical engineering at Nirma University before moving to Los Angeles to study filmmaking at the prestigious ArtCenter College of Design.The idea for ‘Standing Up’ was born during a visit to New York on his 25th birthday, when he performed stand-up comedy for the first time at an open mic in Brooklyn.Despite battling stage fright, conversations with fellow comedians—many from immigrant families—inspired him to write a story about an Indian youngster discovering friendship and belonging through his first stand-up performance in New York.Gill spent months refining the script with mentors before bringing together actors and real comedians in Los Angeles for what became his biggest directorial project. He describes the film as a tribute to the people he met that evening, as well as to his family and childhood in Anand.‘Standing Up’ will premiere at the LA Shorts International Film Festival later this month. Widely regarded as one of the world’s leading short film festivals, LA Shorts is accredited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, BAFTA, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television and Spain’s Goya Awards as a qualifying festival.Over the years, 69 filmmakers who screened at the festival have gone on to receive Academy Award nominations, with 18 winning Oscars.
