Anusha Halwai

This story (dream) came to me during a very stressful period in my college life. I was creatively blocked as a result of intense burnout and exhaustion from consecutive projects and a lack of breathers. Partly from reality, I created Leaf (an Asian immigrant) who struggles through burnout, representing the dilemmas of the life of a young immigrant adult battling productivity guilt in a capitalist society that keeps demanding and having a family back home that needs to be supported. This surrealistic short visualizes the ardent desire to connect with nature and get the rare opportunity to soak in sunlight to escape the confines and non-stop tracks of work life. It discovers the impact of stress and its role in crafting the way we sleep and dream.