Next Productions
ROOBHA
SYNOPSIS
Gokul, a perplexed young South Asian man is ostracized by his community as he tries to establish his gender identity. Desperate and unable to earn a decent living, he assumes the nom de guerre, Roobha, and walks the streets of Toronto.
Roobha soon musters up a clientele. One day she is violently assaulted by thugs and left to die. She survives the attack and heals with the help of her transgender friends. Her encounter with the enigmatic Anthony leads to a rapturous romance. However, their blissful existence is short lived.
Amrit is a prominent model, actor and trainer, and has portrayed multifarious characters in the films, Pseudo Blood of Our Own, Hollywood and Vine, The Dorm, and Heartland. Modelling is his passion, and he has trained over 200 models and pageant contestants for contests including Miss Universe Canada, Miss Calgary, and Miss Sudan; and for international conventions including the Faces West IMT Convention in Vancouver and the IMTA Convention in New York. He has also trained atheletes equipping them with media presentation and public speaking skills. He has worked on numerous assignments in Canada, United States, Indonesia and Singapore. Amrit holds a degree in Communication Business, and in his spare time, he volunteers at the Mustard Seed for the homeless.
ROOBHA
ANTHONY
ANTHONYDASAN JESUTHASAN
DAN BERTOLINI
CASSANDRA JAMES
Antonythasan is a prolific writer and actor. He has penned poems, authored novels, written articles and acted in numerous plays. In the late 1990’s, he started writing under the pseudonym, Shoba Sakthi, and has published over 20 novels to date. His first novel, Guerilla, was published in 2001 and his second novel, Traitor, followed soon after. Antonythasan’s acting career began in 2011, when he starred in Sengadal. The film was featured at the Montreal World Film Festival, International Film Festival of India, and Durban International Film Festival. He essayed the title role in Dheepan, a film by the celebrated French director, Jacques Audiard, which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, 2015. His latest film, Roobha, in which he plays the lead character of Anthony, is based on one of his short stories.
LUCIA
AMRIT SANDHU
With a degree in theatre performance from Ryerson University and a comprehensive dedication to nightlife and the queer community, Cassandra is a force to be reckoned with. Blessed with a figure to die for and looks to kill Cassandra represents the new generation of drag: fierce performance from an ideal, yet realistic beauty. “I wear outfits real girls would never dare to wear.” Cassandra has an insatiable hunger for performance and her love of the theatre permeates all of her drag shows. “I’m interested in creating something provocative as well as entertaining.” A hardworking talent, Cassandra is always interested in growth and new challenges. Her interests include film, music of all genres, theatre, dance and fashion. Cassandra is an artist with great depth and all of her work is backed by a fierce intelligence.
MAYA
Dan Bertolini was born and raised in the suburbs of Burlington, Ontario before moving to the big city to study Commerce and Finance at the University of Toronto. After completing his degree and working in various industries Dan realized a career in business wasn’t his cup of tea, and he has been pursuing acting, training both locally and abroad, ever since.Venturing overseas, Dan attended the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, England, where he was immersed in the works of Shakespeare and the English approach to acting. RADA provided an intensive theatre training program, and after much sampling Dan discovered that his cup of tea after all was just that, a cup of tea.
ARSENIJ GUSEV
BETTINA LANGE
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
ART DIRECTOR
Bettina Lange is an accomplished Art Director and Costume Designer. She obtained a degree in Graphic Design and a Diploma focussed on film and theatre from the University of Dresden. She has worked on a multitude of theatre and movie productions, on an international scale. She worked on set designs for numerous theatrical productions for the Wooster Group and for Performance Space 122, in New York. In collaboration with the Maxmueller Goethe Institute, she worked on the documentary series, ‘Bangalore Neighbourhood’. She also did independent art work in co-operation with TIFR, Hyderabad. Bettina’s forte is stage design. She currently works for leading theatre and opera houses in Munich, Zurich, Basel, Berlin.
The young maestro, Arsenij Gusev, etches visual poetry with his camera. He holds a Masterclass DOP from Moskau, and a degree in Film and TV Production focus Camera 2010 from Dortmund, Germany. His in-depth knowledge in filmmaking, is apparent in the plethora of his work. He has worked as a Director of Photography in ‘Pastell Shades‘, ‘The Ghost with a Hole WT‘, ‘Children Children‘, ‘Reise im Kopf‘, ‘Zwiegestalten, No. 7‘, ‘Reise zum Fluss‘, ‘Solanum‘, ‘Lust‘, ‘Bagatelle‘; as a DP for the commercials, ‘Hornback Sonnenschirm‘, ‘Youtailor, Size Does Matter‘, ‘CO’PS Drinks‘, ‘Duisburg Stadtwerke‘, ‘Eisbar‘, ‘Most Wanted‘, ‘Camaloon Web Advertising Series‘, ‘EP-Flow Werberseri‘, ‘Schachmatt‘ and ‘Westspeil Entertainment Werberserie‘; and as a second unit DP for ‘Sicher ist Sicher‘, ‘Sex and Crime‘, and ‘My Last Concert‘.
LENIN M. SIVAM
DIRECTOR
Lenin Sivam is a skilful storyteller who writes, directs and produces most of his films. He is widely acclaimed for revolutionizing Tamil cinema, through his offbeat, realistic and powerful depiction of the Tamil diaspora. His film, ‘A Few Good People’, won the Best Short Film of the Year Award from the Independent Art Film Society in 2006. His debut feature film, ‘1999‘, also won several awards. ‘A Gun and A Ring’, his next film was well received, critically as well as commercially. It made its world premiere at the Shanghai Film Festival in June 2013 and was nominated for the coveted Golden Goblet Award. It won several other nominations and awards, and cemented his position as a virtuoso in his realm.