“Your soul is the new battleground” is the perfect descriptor for upcoming Australian sci-fi thriller Jiva.
“I wanted to make a feature film that mattered,” states writer and producer Peter Koevari, “that had something new to offer, and that will surprise viewers.”
Jiva is about a grief-stricken scientist who makes a life-changing discovery and creates a new world in order to save those he loves.
Koevari knows one thing is sure when people watch this film, “They’ll question a lot of things.”
It will deal with living in an unjust world, gangs, scientific discoveries and exploration that touches on the concept of reincarnation, hence the film’s title.
Jiva is a Sanskrit term that translates to ‘living soul’.
“I think humans, by human nature, are curious about the afterlife,” he notes.
“How we leave this world and how we came to be. In fact, in the film itself, it talks of an area in China, which actually has a whole village of people remembering their past lives.”
Jiva, by GP2 Entertainment, is the first feature film for Koevari, a novelist known for the fantasy series Legends of Marithia. Koevari and the film’s director, Greg Powell, have collaborated together in the past on short films such as Ring Around a Rosie and Mother’s Day. Jiva was created and self-funded with no backing from the government or funding.
“It’s funny, because you start this journey and say, ‘I want to make a feature film. Not any feature film, an action, sci-fi thriller film with this many action scenes.’ You sit there and go, ‘How in the world am I going to achieve this?'”
Jiva is a film concept that can readily be accepted into the global market.
“Unfortunately, in history, Australian films have not been a good investment,” he says. “That’s something I really want to change, for people to go, ‘Hold on a minute, these guys are here.’ And there’s more than just us.”
“This kind of film industry needs a pretty strong boost. These genres need to be seen as something that should be backed and made here and then distributed all over the world.”
While there is no official release date of the film, Koevari will be attending Supanova in Brisbane to take part in a Q&A session, while sharing exclusive clips with Supa-Fans. He’ll be joined by director and actor Greg Powell, Sabrina Matruglio, who plays Agent Anna, Sean Dennehy, who plays Julian the scientist.
“It has been a really cool journey,” he says.
“It has been worth it so far, with the team and the set, we had a pretty amazing cast and crew.”
