The Global Search for Education: Naming and Identity: A Conversation with Aaron Strand

Posted By C. M. Rubin on Nov 1, 2024

This month, audiences can screen The Name on the Planet Classroom Network. This film is curated by Kids FIRST! Film Festival.

The Name, directed by Aaron Strand, follows an expecting couple grappling with the decision of naming their child. With the father favoring traditional English names and the mother embracing her Hindi roots, the emotional journey explores identity, culture, and compromise. This heartfelt film highlights the complexity of merging cultural backgrounds in family life.

The Global Search for Education is pleased to welcome Aaron Strand.

Aaron, what inspired you to explore the theme of cultural identity through the naming process?

As a first-time parent, the naming process was not something I had ever considered. I always assumed a name was all about the child, but in practice, a name has everything to do with the parents. You feel a responsibility to pass on legacies and values to your child. However, those things are not always logical. Sometimes you find yourself fighting for things that you don’t fully understand. The process forced my wife—co-writer Shub Agrawal—and me to examine the good, the bad, and the ugly of our cultural contexts.

How did you approach balancing the couple’s emotional journey while maintaining a sense of humor in the film?

I think Spielberg once said something to the effect of “if you can get them to laugh, they’ll trust you to cry.” I certainly feel that way as an audience member. The craft I wanted to explore in this film was how quickly a beat can pivot from drama to comedy. An acting teacher once told me, “The definition of comedy is a character shamelessly pursuing an objective.” In that context, any scene can instantly shift from high drama to comedy because when characters deeply care about something, they do shameless and absurd things.

Can you share any personal experiences that influenced the storyline of The Name?

This film happened because, for about six months of my wife’s pregnancy, she and I could not have a calm conversation about naming our first child. The second we would try, things would get heated. I started writing this scene as a bit of art therapy and invited her to join me in the process. We essentially had the conversation we needed to have vicariously through the characters! The irony is, as soon as our daughter was born, I stopped caring about any of these things and immediately said, “Whatever you want to name her is fine, I don’t care. I’m just so happy everyone is alive and safe,” haha!

What message do you hope resonates most with new parents watching this film?

It’s a beautiful thing that our world is becoming more diverse, and people from different backgrounds are able to fall in love and start families. However, this diversity brings challenges that more homogenized societies didn’t have to deal with. I hope this film demonstrates that you can engage with legacies of race, culture, and family—and still come back to the love that brought you and your partner together.

Thank you, Aaron!