Jamie’s Wager
Written and Directed by Sean Kardar, Jamie’s Wager is Sean’s first narrative film currently starting the festival circuit.
Synopsis
With the unexpected death of his father, Jamie finds himself in the middle of his Muslim uncle, Hafiz, and his father’s New-Age girlfriend, Alicia, at the office of William's Funeral Directors.
Presented with a series of burial options catering for every religious denomination, uncertain about his father’s beliefs, or his own, he finds himself at a crossroads between religious tradition and his secular upbringing. Should he be buried as a Muslim? Or was he a modern day “spiritual?”
Sitting in a dated wood panelled office, the grieving family undergo the Funeral Director’s well-oiled administrative process.
Desperately attempting to make sense of it all, wanting to do the right thing, Jamie’s places a wager on what he believes may be the most pragmatic solution, but we are left wondering if this was the right decision and was he able to get closure?
“In a world of labels and products, funerals become a transaction, where the enigma surrounding the afterlife is met with the bureaucracy of the modern day.”
Director’s Statement
The story of Jamie’s Wager was inspired by conversations surrounding the passing of both my father AJ Kardar and my eldest brother, Karim Kardar.
In both instances there were family disagreements about how they should be honoured during their funeral. Both free spirited, it wasn’t evident how exactly they should be religiously defined upon their deaths. In this sense, the film is a simple family drama about a modern multicultural family in conflict about how to organise a funeral ceremony for someone whose religious beliefs were in question.
My intention was to juxtapose the ethereal and emotional phenomenon in dealing with death against the bureaucratic process of organising a funeral ceremony. In a world of labels and products, funerals become a transaction, where the enigma surrounding the afterlife is met with the bureaucracy of the modern day. A somewhat dark but amusing experience at the same time.
As a third culture kid who was brought up a Christian, became agnostic and later found Islam, I feel Jamie's character speaks to a generation who are detached from their cultural roots and in search of a cultural identity and a sense of spirituality.
I find the search for spirituality in a secular society a fascinating subject to explore. Something I’m keen on developing in my writing/directing career.
I hope the films serves as a tool to spark conversations surrounding the inevitable nature of death, and the questions that surround it, how do we prepare for it, what happens after it. I also hope it encourages debate around the practice of spirituality and religion in secular societies.