On a mission to help end slavery worldwide, young filmmaker Gregg Helvey has directed a short film, Kavi, a story about a boy slave in India. The film has been nominated for an Academy Awards in the Best Live Action Short Film category.
The lead character is fictional, but the situation is all too real – not just in India, but worldwide. Helvey, a Christian, filmed Kavi as his thesis project as a film student at USC. The short has gone on to win a Gold Medal at the Student Academy Awards and a Crystal Heart Award at the Heartland Film Festival.
Helvey told Plywood People, “I hope Kavi will touch audiences in a way that moves them to take action to end slavery. I want this movie to be an experience that transports you to another world, but allows you to identify with the characters in a way that reminds you how close they really are. Kavi is going where no documentary could go: straight into the heart of a family who is trapped in the middle of slavery.”
Helvey talks more about the making of the film here.
The trailer:
