Swetha Regunathan, Writer/Director 

Sloan Grant(s) Received: 2019, Production Award, NYU 

Project Type: Short Film 

Genre: Drama 

Length: 13 pages 

Field of Science: Neuroscience, Biology 

Stage: Pre-Production 

Synopsis 

Early 90s Queens: Indian immigrant Hema Murthy feels trapped in her working-class life, while her young daughter Anika fantasizes about the light, fun-loving world of the Tanners on Full House. When tasked with making a video for her art class, Anika tries to stage the perfect sitcom family moment with her mother, only to be thwarted by forces well beyond anyone’s control. She holds onto the belief that Hema is physically incapable of demonstrating affection—thanks to Danny Tanner, a camcorder, and the progenitor of attachment theory, Harry Harlow. In the present day and on the cusp of motherhood herself, Anika pays a visit to Hema in order to settle this longstanding emotional score. But when she finds the very same VHS recording that she’d made as a kid, she unearths a secret side of her mother that forces her to make a bold, unprecedented gesture.