Press
The Shaun Proulx Show
World Screen
“Rodney Diverlus, Sandy Hudson and Anubha Momin have teamed up to form Above the Palace, a new Toronto-based production company.
‘“With the launch of Above the Palace, we’re combining our varied experience and story ideas with our ability to tap into the zeitgeist to understand what younger, more diverse audiences are craving,’ said Diverlus, co-founder of Above the Palace. ‘What really interests us are projects that can move the needle on culture and have a global impact.’”
AUG 2023
C21
“Canadian producers and writers Rodney Diverlus, Sandy Hudson and Anubha Momin are partnering to launch Above the Palace (ATP), a Toronto-based production company focused on scripted and unscripted TV, film and digital media.
The founders said they plan to create content that “challenges status quo thinking” and meets the increasing global demand for programming from BIPOC perspectives.
ATP brings together Diverlus and Hudson (CBC’s Black Life: Untold Stories), who are both published authors and were among the co-founders of the Black Lives Matter movement in Canada, with emerging screenwriter, director and producer Momin.”
AUG 2023
Playback
“[Kaniehtiio] Horn is an executive producer on another Canadian short making its world bow at TIFF: the drama Aftercare. The short by writer-director-producer Momin follows the story of an Inuk woman who is seeking to erase memories of her “difficult past.”
Aftercare is produced by Sandy Hudson and Rodney Diverlus, with Stephanie Hooker and Natty Zavitz serving as executive producers alongside Horn. It stars Maika Harper and Sofia Banzhaf.”
AUG 2023
Represent Asian Project
“When Anubha Momin, Sandy Hudson and Rodney Diverlus started their Toronto-based production company, Above The Palace together late last year, they knew they wanted to make waves—the only problem was, they weren’t sure how. “We do love a spectacle, we do love a splash,” says Momin. So when Momin, a writer and director, brought up an idea for a short film she had, the three suddenly had their big debut.
The resulting short film, Aftercare, had its premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). In Aftercare, Kaatali (played by Mohawk Girls’ Maika Harper) has a chance encounter at a tattoo parlor with Jamie (Wong and Winchester’s Sofia Banzhaf), the now-grown child she used to take care of a decade ago. It’s a stunning story, told in just nine minutes. And its production is also bringing up conversations about the limits of the way diversity is thought of.”
SEP 2023
On Aftercare: “I loved this concept, this idea…when this one character meets up with someone she used to babysit and is asked about her life…she feels like she’s being judged a little bit.
I thought it was a very honest and astute movie…I feel like everybody goes through that at some point in their life…Something very intimate is happening between the two of them.”
Globe & Mail
“ [Sandy Hudson] recently launched the production company, Above the Palace, alongside filmmaker Anubha Momin and Hudson’s activist co-conspirator Rodney Diverlus. Their first film out the gate is Momin’s AFTERCARE.
The short stars Maika Harper (Mohawk Girls) and Sofia Banzhaf (Closet Monster) as a former babysitter and the woman she used to care for as a child, respectively, meeting by chance after a decade – an encounter fraught with miscommunication and complicated by identity and socioeconomic gaps.
AFTERCARE is a prime example of what Above The Palace will be about: telling the stories about people often left off-screen while, much like its creators, refusing to fit into any narrowly prescribed boxes. These boxes, Hudson says, can be a challenge when an industry – where white creators seem to have carte blanche to any story they want – expects Black artist to only tell Black stories, and how such expectations are replicated in funding structures meant to support BIPOC creatives.”
AUG 2023
Playback
“ A trio made up of filmmakers, producers and activists have formed Above the Palace, a Toronto-based production company focused on scripted and unscripted series and films.
The company is led by Rodney Diverlus and Sandy Hudson, co-founders of Black Lives Matter Canada and Toronto’s Wildseed Centre for Art & Activism, as well as filmmaker Anubha Momin, whose short film Aftercare is about to make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September.”
AUG 2023
Playback
“Canadians are on the Croisette looking to reach broader audiences and make deals for future projects as the Cannes Film Festival gets underway.
Playback Daily connected with several homegrown screen sector delegates about the titles they’re bringing to the festival and market, which runs Tuesday (May 16) through May 27.
Among them are Toronto-based Sandy Hudson, co-founder of Black Lives Matter – Canada (pictured middle), producer Jenna MacMillan of Charlottetown, P.E.I (pictured left), and Toronto writer-performer-producer Anubha Momin (pictured right), who are looking for a coproducer partner for their modern rom-com film Come By Seldom.
Written by Momin and inspired by her family story and her own life in remote parts of Canada, the feature is in the early stages of development and doesn’t have a director or distributor attached yet, the trio tells Playback. It will be largely shot in Canada, ideally in Newfoundland and Labrador, and coproduced with Hudson’s production company, Above the Palace — co-owned with Momin and Rodney Diverlus — and Club Red Productions, owned by MacMillan.”
MAY 2023
The Caribbean Camera
“ A groundbreaking venture has emerged on the entertainment scene, promising to shake up the industry with its commitment to diversity and thought-provoking storytelling. Rodney Diverlus, Sandy Hudson, and Anubha Momin have officially launched ‘Above the Palace’, a Toronto-based production company dedicated to crafting film, television, live performance, and digital media projects that challenge conventional narratives and cater to the global demand for BIPOC-centred content.
The Parallel, a captivating television series, is a shining example of their mission. This weekly show delves into cultural and political issues with a Canadian twist, combining critical insights with a dash of wit. It expands on the success of the “On Canada Project,” an Instagram account that caters to curious Gen Z and Millennial audiences.”
AUG 2023
CBC News
The Kit
“When it comes to describing a filmmaker, “storyteller” is one of those cliched adjectives that’s thrown around. When you’re talking about Anubha Momin, it’s unavoidable.
Aftercare was shot in a single day, and in nine minutes it explores the fraught reunion between a woman and her childhood babysitter, a relationship that’s fascinated Momin for years. “I don’t think it’s a dynamic that’s super well-explored, except by Ann M. Martin in the fabulous Baby-Sitters Club series,” she says. “Babysitters can often be the first people that talk to you about love or dating or makeup or university—things that an adult would not talk to a kid about, but a 16- or 17-year-old might talk to an eight-year-old about.”
SEP 2023
ETalk
SEP 2023