European premiere of the heart-warming film Umrika by director Prashant Nair, which won the audience award at Sundance 2015, will be presented at the KVIFF by the director himself and actors Suraj Sharma (Life of Pi) and Tony Revolori (The Grand Budapest Hotel).
Prashant Nair, director, screenwriter and producer, was born to Malayali parents and grew up in Europe, Asia and Africa. Before settling down as a filmmaker in Mumbai, he worked in Paris, Prague, Berlin and New York. It was there that he took a course in direction and editing at the prestigious NYU, which he says was a formative experience, but adds that his work was influenced most by getting to know many countries and cultures, and by making his own first film. He debuted with the short romantic comedy Max & Helena (2009), followed by the critically acclaimed feature Delhi in a Day (2011), in which a young Briton coming to learn about India encounters the changes that have brought the country major economic growth in the last twenty years.
Suraj Sharma, is a young Indian actor best known to audiences for Ang Lee‘s poetic film Life of Pi (2012), which was awarded four Oscars. Sharma was chosen for the role from 3000 hopefuls. He later performed in the successful, Golden Globe-winning series Homeland.
Tony Revolori is an American actor, versatile musician and lyricist. He has been involved in film since his first small roles at the age of two. His work since then has included a number of television series – Entourage, My Name is Earl, The Unit and Sons of Tucson. The pinnacle of his filmography so far is his performance in the film The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014).
