Ridley Scott Joins Short Film ‘Flight 182’ As Exec Producer Alongside Archie Panjabi Ahead Of Oscars
EXCLUSIVE: Ridley Scott has joined the live-action short film Flight 182 as an executive producer. Scott joins Emmy-winning actor Archie Panjabi who came on board earlier this year as an exec producer
Written and directed by Rippin Sindher, the film unfolds against the backdrop of the 1985 Air India bombing, the largest aviation attack before 9/11. The film follows a pregnant wife, portrayed by Sundeep Morrison, fighting to keep her husband from boarding the doomed flight amid intense political upheaval. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the real-life tragedy.
Scott, the four-time Academy Award nominee and BAFTA Fellowship recipient, is celebrated for genre-defining classics Alien, Blade Runner and Gladiator. His joining the project with Panjabi, who he directed on A Good Year and their collaboration continued on The Good Wife which he produced, underscores the film’s emotional and historical power.
“Ridley has been a guiding force in my career–not only as a master storyteller, but as a mentor who has helped me deepen my search for truth on screen. It’s extraordinary to stand alongside him in championing Rippin Sindher’s Flight 182, a film inspired by real-life tragedy, told with urgency and humanity,” said Panjabi.
Panjabi has called the film her “favorite film of the year,” praising Sindher as “one of the most electrifying new voices in film today.”
The film has earned accolades on the international festival circuit, winning Best Narrative Short at Imagine This Women’s International Film Festival (NY), an Honorable Mention at iSAFF Canada, nominations for Outstanding Dramatic Short Film and Outstanding Directing at the Micheaux Film Festival in Los Angeles, and screening at festivals including Bentonville, Crested Butte and LA Asian Pacific Film Festival.
“To have the support of a visionary like Ridley Scott and the incomparable Archie Panjabi is beyond anything I could have imagined,” said Sindher. “This film was made with immense love and purpose, from the grassroots, to give voice to a story that’s been overlooked. Their belief in the project is transformative for me as a filmmaker. I still remember working at the Directors Guild of America when Ridley received the Lifetime Achievement Award; that same year, I released one of my first films. To have him champion my work today is profoundly meaningful and a true full-circle moment.”
Watch the trailer below:
