Intriguing, moving and relevant.
I for India (2007)
Rated: NC
Runtime: 70 mins
Theatrical Release: 03-08-2007
Synopsis: Annoyed at the poor quality of long-distance phone calls from England to his home country of India, in 1965 Yash Pal Suri bought two Super-8 film cameras, two projectors, and two reel-to-reel recorders and sent one of each to his parents back home. Over the following decades, Yash filmed his... Annoyed at the poor quality of long-distance phone calls from England to his home country of India, in 1965 Yash Pal Suri bought two Super-8 film cameras, two projectors, and two reel-to-reel recorders and sent one of each to his parents back home. Over the following decades, Yash filmed his surroundings–images of snow, ladies in miniskirts dancing bare-legged, the first trip to an English supermarket–his taped thoughts and observations providing a unique chronicle of the eccentricities of his new English hosts. He then exchanged the journals with his parents' similar recordings of his home culture. I for India is a telling portrait of separation through both old and current footage of the family. While the subject matter is reliant on nostalgia, filmmaker (and Yash's daughter) Sandhya Suri avoids overanalysis and sentimentality. The gorgeous film grain and crackling audio static are compelling. But time rolls on, and as the possibility of returning to India becomes less realistic, the cine-reports become darker and more frustrated. Yash has the ability to be both humble and proud in the middle of it all. It is so bittersweet: if not for the huge separation of the family, would Yash have made such a beautiful time capsule? --© Sundance Film Festival [More]
Genre: Education/General Interest
Reviews
A picture of cultural displacement and Anglo-Indian rapprochement almost worthy of EM Forster.
A fascinating, heartrending, beautifully compiled glimpse into one expatriate family's filmed self-portrait.
A deeply moving portrait of a family trying to retain their indigenous identity.
Works beautifully both as an intensely personal family history and as an intriguing comment on today's global culture.
A surprisingly delicate, quietly emotional documentary look at the experiences of one Indian family that immigrated to England in the 1960s.
Sandhya Suri strikes humanist gold in her feature-filmmaking debut.
It's a tale that many immigrant families around the world could tell, but probably without as much documentation.
Despite its rough-hewn technical aspects, "I for India" emerges as a moving portrait of cultural dislocation and the emotional complexities of family dynamics.
It's a must-see for everyone, especially the Lou Dobbses and Tom Tancredos of the world.
In I for India Sandhya Suri offers her family’s immigrant experience as a springboard for questions of nationality and filial responsibility.
November seems late enough to call this one of the richest documentaries of the year.
Suri's film is a loving tribute to her family that never feels like an invasion of their privacy, and a potent, heartfelt meditation on time, home and identity.
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