Directed by Ian Bawa

Logline: An endearing portrait of a South Asian father as he attempts to give life and marital advice to his bodybuilding and image-obsessed son. This deeply touching, comedic short film is an autobiographical piece that stars the director's own father.

Synopsis: Strong Son is a short dramatic film about a father who tells the story of his relationship with his bodybuilding son. Set entirely in a gym, the film begins with a father as he watches his son perform a variety of bodybuilding exercises. As the father watches, he narrates his relationship with his son, and critiques aspects of his life, such as his body, his marital status, and his obsession with working out. The father is also seen helping the son workout. The film ends with both father and son leaving the gym together, as the father explains that he is old, weak, and alone, and his son has to be and stay strong in order to take care of him

Distribution Contact: WFG

More Details

RUNTIME: 3 Minutes
GENRE: Documentary, Narrative, Fiction
PRODUCTION FORMAT: Super 8mm
LANGUAGE: English
LOCATION: Manitoba
TECHNIQUES: Live Action
KEYWORDS: Cultural Analysis, Culturally Diverse Filmmaker

Director's Statement: Strong Son is a personal film about my insecurities in life, my struggle to uphold cultural traditions, and my relationship with my father. The film stars my actual father, Jagdeep Singh Bawa, and Mandeep Sodhi, a bodybuilder from India, who is essentially playing an extreme version of myself.

As a overweight child, I was body shamed with passive comments from my father which, as I got older, caused me to become quite obsessed with exercise, health, and working out. In addition to this, as I have gotten older, my father's health has dwindled to the point that I have become his full time provider, enabling me to see a future of what could happen if I do not take care of myself.

Finally, the film deals with the idea that as millennials our parents are getting older, and there will be a point where we need to take care of them, and how emotionally and physically hard that will be when or if that day comes. Such is why our lead character (the son) needs to be “strong”.