Coconut
Nineteen-year-old bedroom rapper Dev has always been called a ‘coconut’: brown on the outside, white on the inside. Already ashamed of his Australian accent, he has given up on speaking his family’s language due to being mocked by community members any time he says a word in Fiji Hindi. His cultural displacement comes to a head when he accidentally ruins his grandpa’s Hindu funeral ceremony, knocking the urn containing his ashes into the nearby creek.
Everything changes when, after a grocery shopping trip leads to mutual frustration, his sharp-tongued, non-English-speaking grandma hears Dev swear at a stranger and responds in kind. Their new secret language becomes a bridge across grief, a way back into culture and language, and the start of healing.
Warning: Contains coarse language
Director bio:
Ravi Chand is the recipient of several Screen Australia and VicScreen emerging talent initiatives, including the coveted VicScreen Screen Development Internship, where for twelve months he worked for VicScreen, ABC TV and production company Sweetshop and Green. He’s been selected for AFTRS Talent Camp, Documentary Australia Foundation Story Works program, Cinespace Screenwriters Fellowship and the Screen Australia / ABC ME Kaleidoscope Project, where his 22-minute short Namaste Yoga aired nationally on ABC ME and iView. Namaste Yoga screened at Māoriland, Chicago International Children’s and Cleveland International film festivals. His Bharatanatyam (classical Indian dance) piece for ABC Art Works has exceeded 9100 likes on the ABC Arts Facebook page.Ravi’s breathtaking reconnection to his culture occurred when, after 24 years apart, he found out that his maternal grandma – whom he thought had passed away decades ago – was still alive and waiting for him in Fiji. She reconnected Ravi to his language and culture.
Master of Film and Television (Filmmaking)