Force of Destiny

About the Film

A journey of love and hope, of courage and sacrifice, and one man’s miraculous salvation through a life-saving liver transplant. FORCE OF DESTINY is a story of survival inspired by Paul Cox’s personal experiences and his recent book Tales From the Cancer Ward.

Cast: David Wenham, Jacqueline McKenzie, Shahana Goswami, Seema Biswas

Post screening discussion with Actress Seema Biswas

Opening Film at Melbourne International Film Festival

Director: Paul Cox (16 April 1940 – 18 June 2016)

Paul Cox was a Dutch-Australian filmmaker, who has been recognized as “Australia’s most prolific film auteur”. Cox’s delicate films have been pockmarked with life’s uncertainty. Loneliness within relationships is a staple of the Cox oeuvre, too”. David Wenham states, “There is no one like Cox…. He is unique, and we need him, and people like him…. He is completely an auteur, because everything you see on the screen, and hear, has got Paul’s fingerprints all over it.”

In March of 2015, Ms. Media Productions traveled to rural Bangalore, India to document the plights of destitute girls from local villages, who are given an opportunity for a new life at the Sahara Deepika Foundation for Education. Highlighting the power of an education in a girl’s life, this project focuses on the story of Suma. Suma was abandoned at the doorstep of the institute by her mother at the age of 4. Overcoming feelings of desperation to be reunited with her mother, Suma finds hope at the institute and now has a bright future ahead of her.

This project was made possible with the help of a local crew in Bangalore and was shot in just three days with a restricted budget. In January 2016, Ms. Media returned to Bangalore to continue documenting the lives, struggles and successes of the girls at Sahasra Deepika.

Cast: Suma, Mr. T.V. and Mrs. Vijaya Ramakrishna, Sarva Rajendra

Director: Monika Samtani

Raj was born without love lines on either of his hands, and has been doomed to loneliness ever since. One day he is granted the power to see people’s Zodiac signs, and he uses this to find the love of his life – only to realize that she’s with someone else.

Cast: Gerrard Lobo, Morgan DeTogne, Paul Moon, Zenobia Shroff

Director: Kabir Chopra

Kabir Chopra is an actor and filmmaker based in New York. He graduated with a BFA in dramatic writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and has written and directed several short films. Recently, his short film Vanilla won the Special Jury award for Screenwriting & 2nd runner up for Best Film at the Asian American Film Lab’s 72 Hour Shootout. As an actor, Kabir has appeared in Madam Secretary and the feature film The Spectacular Jihad of Taz Rahim. This summer, he’ll be appearing in the web series MIDS, a modern adaptation of A Midsummers Night’s Dream. Kabir is also a screenwriter in James Franco’s Masterclass at Studio 4, where he will be writing a feature length horror film produced by Rabbit Bandini productions.