Visa troubles for Emmy-Award winner Sarath Chandra

In October, short filmmaker and a digital marketer from Hyderabad, Sarath Chandra Sasubilli’s film Domestic Peace won the International Emmy Award in the 1-min-video category called “JCS International Young Creatives Award”.

Sarath has been sending 1-min videos to the jury every year since 2017, which is when the new category came into existence. The award is designed to discover and foster young talent from around the world while creating a global conversation around peace. In 2021, in his fourth attempt, Sarath’s short was selected from around 27,000 entries worldwide.

Sarath first got the news after The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences updated it on the website on 01 October. “When I saw Emmy’s official website, I was thrilled, knowing this is an incredible achievement. I was literally speechless and in tears,” he adds.

Three people have been selected along with Sarath in the category — Sandra Vazquez from Mexico and Yintao Gong from China. One of the winners of the JCS Young Creatives Competition, Sarath has been invited to attend the 49th International Emmy Awards and Member Events to be held in New York on 21 and 22 November. However, Sarath’s delight has hit a roadblock because he’s been having trouble in getting his visa processed.

Roadblocks ahead

Since the pandemic brought the world to a halt for one-and-half years, the recently reopened US Consulate has been facing an unprecedented surge in requests for visa. And the American Embassy has stopped new emergency visa requests. “Unfortunately, my visa is also on hold. I need a B1 (Expedited Visa) Visa for attending such global awards ceremonies,” says the disheartened 26-year-old arts and B.Tech graduate from Andhra University, Vizag.

“All my documents are clear and all my visa payments are done. My entire trip is planned and booked. This is not a holiday trip, and winning such an award like Emmy will happen only once in a lifetime. And I feel that’s being snatched away from me.”

With less than a week left for the Emmy award ceremony, the award winner has been pleading with the concerned authorities to process and grant him an Expedite Visa.

Government antipathy

Now, however, Sarath has run out of energy and is exhausted. “I made all the calls to the Delhi embassy and got in touch with several others. But I’ve not heard from them, so I don’t know my fate,” laments Sarath. “I believe the coming two days are very crucial in my life and I don’t want to miss out on something that I’ve earned.”

Not surprisingly, Sarath is heartbroken as the US had stopped issuing business visas, focusing on work and student visas instead. “My hard work has earned me an international award and an opportunity to represent my country, and I feel that the governments are standing between me and my achievement. I haven’t found any support from my people either. I don’t know what to do. I’ve called on all government offices, but have got no response from them,” he adds. hoping that he will get a Visa soon.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sushmita Sen and Vir Das are other Indians attending the International Emmy Award ceremony for their web series and stand-up comedy show nominations.

THE JCS INTERNATIONAL YOUNG CREATIVES AWARD

The Jury of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences will finalise the top 100 entries through public voting. After that, a jury comprising Hollywood actors and technicians selected three winners.

While anyone can send their short films for being nominated for the awards, this year (2021) the competition, whose theme was Stand Up for Peace — Women & Men United for Change, opened on 30 June 2021 and closed on 08 September 2021.

Sarath decided to approach the theme practically. He believes that if society had to be changed, the change should start at home. “So I shot a video showing how children are affected when they see parents fighting at home. It’s not only a very embarrassing moment for kids but also a mortifying one for parents when fighting in front of their kids,” explains Sarath.

“So if parents change, automatically there’s peace at home; subsequently, the society is peaceful at large because after all, society is a union of homes.”
For the film, Sai Vamsi was the cameraman, while Mohan Kumar and Sanghavi played the roles of the parents.

“I never expected my film to get selected but I’ve been constantly making films since it is my passion. I’ve been sending videos hoping that someday my film might make it to the cut. And here I am, finally,” says the spirited youngster who is all ecstatic to go to the US but now has to wait to see what destiny has in store for him.