Foreign Puzzle
Chithra Jeyaram
USA
Foreign Puzzle is an intimate documentary that explores interior space and its external manifestation through movement [in space] to communicate that which cannot be expressed through words. Sharon, a Mexican American dancer, and mother to 6-year-old Dali is plagued by uncertainty. As medicine traverses through the miles and miles of blood vessels, microscopic cancer cells die in her body but are they all truly gone? Will she be around to see her son graduate from high school? Will he be ok if she is gone? Suspended between life and death, she creates a 90 min dance the “Materiality of Impermanence.”
Born and raised in Mexico City, Sharon is a choreographer, dancer, and teacher based in Austin, Texas. Her work is inspired by deeply personal experiences and my journey in this world as a woman, a Latina artist, a cancer survivor, and a mother. She is an impassioned believer in the transformational power of dance, and the irrevocable right of all persons to experience the arts as an expression of our common humanity. Her work has been listed numerous times as one of the top ten dance events of the year by the Austin Chronicle, and I am a three-time winner of the Austin Critics Table Award for Outstanding Choreographer. Her productions, The Materiality of Impermanence and most recently, Las Cuatro Estaciones: A Story of Human Trees, were honored with awards for Best Dance Concert from the Austin Critics Table
Chithra Jeyaram is a Guest Contributor for Panorama
Chithra Jeyaram is a multi-lingual filmmaker and film educator. She directs, produces, and edits films about identity, relationships, race, art, and health. She also teaches documentary production at NYU Tisch. A failed attempt to fund a film in India led her to quit a decade-long career as a Physical Therapist and get an MFA in film. Her short MIJO, about a delicate mother-son relationship, aired on KLRU TV and played in 50 film festivals globally. In 2019, she directed, produced, and edited, FOREIGN PUZZLE, a story of Mexican American woman using dance to process impermanence and uncertainty during cancer treatment. FOREIGN PUZZLE is distributed by New Day Films and Kanopy. Now, she is directing and producing a feature documentary titled OUR DAUGHTERS, the looks at adoption in America through an immigrant lens. Her indie film work is supported by Chicken and Egg Pictures, New York Women in Film Fund, BGDM, Jerome Foundation, CAAM, and NYSCA. She has also pitched at competitive industry events like the Gotham, Sheffield Meet Market, DOC NYC, and BFI Production Finance Market. In the near future, she hopes to direct narrative features and fantastical episodic content. She is an avid runner and has completed 14 marathons. Food is her first love.
For screening inquiries please contact: https://www.newday.com/films/foreign-puzzle