The darkest hour is said to be just before dawn. Sheila Sawhny’s Peanut begins with one such moment of despair in the life of a middle-aged man, sitting on a bench in the woods, visibly at a low ebb. But it takes just a minute for him to pull back from the precipice. What seemed like a point of no return unexpectedly turns into a new beginning. All in the blink of an eye and thanks to a woman who, with her offering of peanuts, pushes him towards light, healing, and hope. She brings him the gift of a second chance in life.
The dialogue-driven two-hander, draws from the performances of Gary J. Klavans and Bellina Logan and their free and easy give-and-take. It’s their exchanges that animate the still setting and bring sprightliness to the narrative. A humane take on aging, loss and longing, loneliness and companionship, Peanut is all heart and teeming with grace.
Sheila Sawhny
Sheila Sawhny is a director, writer, actor, and producer originally from Mumbai. A winner of the Slamdance Feature Screenplay Competition, she has been selected for the Outfest Screenwriting Lab, the DreamAgo Plume et Pellicule Screenwriting Lab in Switzerland, and the Tasveer Co-Production Market. She executive produced and starred in the award-winning short Stay With Me. Her theatrical work includes No Tell Motel, Baby Steps, and All Right Man, which premiered in Los Angeles. As Senior Programming Manager of Film Independent’s Global Media Makers, she has supported the development of hundreds of international films.
