FILM
Sej’s work as a filmmaker is inspired by the Indigenous communities she has and continues to spend time with. Her fiction films are subtle statements on ancient wisdom and the Indigenous ways of living.
THE LANGUAGE THEY SPOKE (2019)
Written, Directed, Produced by Sej Saraiya
A great deal of contemporary society has an unhealthy relationship with silence. People fear silence, often rushing to fill the space with meaningless entities so that they are no longer uncomfortable. Eastern traditions of Tao, Tantra and Zen Buddhism highly revere mauna, or silence, as the language of the Gods, the living force leading to the peaceful unmoving state of Self. This poetic film invites you to find repose in this instrument of discomfort.
FILM SCREENINGS
Nov 2022 Laemmle Theater, Santa Monica Ethos Film Awards (FINALIST)
Sept 2021 Global Lift-Off Sessions Online
Dec 2020 Los Angeles Asian Film Festival Los Angeles CA, USA
Aug 2020 Silent River Film Festival Orange County, CA, USA
Mar 2020 Rishikesh Int'l Film Festival Tapovan India
Jan 2020 Topanga Film Institute Topanga, CA, USA
Dec 2019 Ojai Short Film Festival Ojai, USA
Nov 2019 SPIRIT Film Festival, Tel Aviv, Israel
Nov 2019 L’Age d’Or Int’l Arthouse Film Festival Kolkata, India (WINNER)
Nov 2019 Global Taj Int'l Film Festival Agra, India (WINNER)
THE CURIOUS WOODS (2021)
Written, Directed, Produced by Sej Saraiya
In a beautiful little mountain village in California, a widowed man Bernie lives the final years of his rather predictable life. When a mysterious young couple moves into town, he is confronted with his reality and his world is turned around. The film is a statement on the sacred connection between human being and nature.
25 wins & 13 nominations
FILM SCREENINGS
Mar 2023 Kalakari Film Festival (OFFICIAL SELECTION)
Jan 2023 Ukrainian Dream Film Festival (WINNER)
Dec 2022 Cine Paris Film Festival (WINNER)
Dec 2022 Berlin Short Film Festival // Wall (WINNER)
Dec 2022 The Basil Deck, India Global India Int’l Film Festival (WINNER)
Nov 2022 Laemmle Theater, Santa Monica Ethos Film Awards (WINNER)
Oct 2022 National Film Archive of India, Chhatrapati Shivaji Int’l Film Festival (WINNER)
Aug 2022 Balboa Theater, San Francisco Arthouse Film Festival (WINNER)
Mar 2022 Cinema Art Theater, Delaware Nature Without Borders Film Festival (WINNER)
Feb 2022 Jean-Cocteau Cinema, Santa Fe Film Festival (OFFICIAL SELECTION)
Jan 2022 Kolkata International Short Film Festival (FINALIST)
Dec 2021 Diorama International Film Festival (OFFICIAL SELECTION)
Dec 2021 Noble Int’l Film Festival, India (OFFICIAL SELECTION)
Oct 2021 Topanga Film Festival, Topanga USA (OFFICIAL SELECTION)
Sep 2021 Toronto Int’l Women’s Film Festival, BC, Canada (OFFICIAL SELECTION)
THE DANCE OF FREEDOM (2023)
Written, Directed, Produced by Sej Saraiya
The story of a tribe of nomadic gypsy women who embraced the dance of the serpent to break free from the antiquated systems of casteism, patriarchy, and female infanticide, to take the future of their girls and young women into their own hands, empowering not only themselves but women from all over the world through their craft. The film is a statement on the triumph of an ancient lineage and traditions.
