Sandhya Suri

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sandhya Suri

• Sandhya Suri was interested in filmmaking from a young age. She was influenced by her father, who communicated with his family in India through film letters. Sandhya used to help in film splicing (joining the films) and providing commentary.

• At a young age, she wished to become an author but later chose mathematics as her field of study.

• After graduation, she taught in a school in Japan, where she attended the Yamagata Documentary Film Festival, which inspired her to study filmmaking.

• In 2005, her first documentary, I For India, was about her father’s experiences along with the film letters he made. It got nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival (formerly known as Utah/US Film Festival and  US Film and Video Festival) by the Sundance Institute in the USA.

  

• In 2018, she released a silent documentary, Around India With a Movie Camera, and a short film, The Field.

• Her debut feature film, Santosh (2024), was featured at several film festivals, including the 77th Annual Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard category.

  

• The film received several awards, including the Top Five International Films at the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures and two awards (Special Jury Award and Student Jury Prize) at the international film festival TOKYO FILMeX.

• The film also got several notable nominations, including the Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer category at the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) and the United Kingdom’s submission at the 97th Academy Awards (Oscar) in the Best International Film category.

• As of March 2025, the film was banned from release in India by the Central Board of Film Certification, citing reasons of police brutality and societal issues in the storyline.