Rani Sitaram's 'Greytown Girl': a journey from inspiration to Cannes nomination

RANI Sitaram, who has been writing and producing documentaries and working within the film, television and media sector since 2000, is finally reaping the rewards of her hard work.

- RANI Sitaram

Her movie, Greytown Girl, which she wrote and produced, has been nominated in the Indie Feature Film category at the 2025 Cannes Film Awards in France in June.

Greytown Girl was directed by Oscar-nominated Darrell Roodt and made under the banner East Coast Media, a South African-based production company.

In this Q & A, Sitaram spoke to Candice Soobramoney about the movie, the nomination and her work behind the scenes.

Q: Tell me about the real-life story of the couple who form the basis of Greytown Girl and why were you inspired by their story?

A: Greytown Girl is a true story about the lives of Meena Rani Gerus and Edward Gerus. In the film, Meena (played by Sanam Sitaram) is a small town South African girl, who is born disabled through forceps delivery. She is abandoned and bravely creates a life for herself at an orphanage. When she is able to walk independently, she returns to her parental home. A new family, a language and culture that is foreign to her, she courageously finds her new normal.

Meena's father Veer (Jack Devnarain) teaches her to read from glossy magazines, where she discovers pen pals. She then excitedly writes to friends all over the world. Just one writes back, her American pen pal Eddie Gibson (Emmanuel Castis)

He is so deeply-impacted by her letters, that he changes his previously superficial view of the world. Eddie is so enamoured by this strong woman from another continent, whom he has never seen, that he chooses Meena over all else.