Sandhya Suri graduated from the National Film and Television School in 2002. I For India is her first documentary feature.

7inch: I understand that you were planning the film even before you went to film-school. Can you tell me a little bit about the transition from a short piece to a longer film, and whether the finished documentary turned out the way you expected it to?

Sandhya Suri: It was the same story I had wanted to make at film school. However, as we did the first cut of the film, we assembled the edit and noticed we had reached an hour just from all the archive material. We hadn't even reached the second part of the film which dealt with our return to India! At that point it became evident that this was too big for our graduation film project. We (me and my editor) decided to deal with just 'the first act' of the film and to do that well. Hence when I came out of film school, I knew there was a lot of material and half of the story still to tell. Consequently I used the short as my calling card to get the longer piece finished. ARTE, the Franco-German broadcasters were interested and with that first commitment I went with my producer to IDFA pitching forum to find money for the rest.

The finished documentary was pretty much what I had in mind. It was hard getting there, having to be confident about what you want as a director when working with experienced producers and commissioning editors. It definitely wasn't easy but I stood firm on what I believed in. And I am really really happy with the end result. It was a journey of discovery and as a process, really very interesting.

7inch: It looks like it was a mammoth editing job going through all those old home-movies and tapes. Was there a lot of good material that you had to leave out?

SS: Yes of course. Everything had to advance the narrative in some way. I was really keen to keep the story moving and everything had to add meaning to the story. As a consequence a lot of lovely things were left out. But in a way, I enjoyed that too. Being strict with the material, together with my editors and finding the right way forward. It wasn't hard to leave things out. It was more satisfying to see the piece gain shape. We used to spend a lot of time moving post-its around the floor, working out the structure like that.

7inch: Given that you are quite honest about the tensions between your parents and your father’s parents, what has the family response to I For India been like?

SS: I had been worried about showing the film to my relatives because of this but actually it was okay. Good in fact. I think that we had never discussed some of the issues about our failed attempt to resettle in India. With the space and distance of time, it was still very emotional, but there was no offence taken. It was more an appreciation of the film trying to make sense of this difficult, joyous, sad shared period of all our lives.

7inch: Towards the end of the film, you draw a parallel (or a contrast) between your dad's home-movies and the world of skype and webcams. It's a bit of a broad question, but do you think the 'digital revolution' has been a good thing for documentary? And do you ever use super 8 yourself?

SS: Like most film-makers I am simultaneously excited by and worried about the digital revolution. At the beginning I think I was more worried. Things were less clear, everybody seemed to be picking up a camera and we feared that respect for the craft may also fly out the window. However, as this becomes an ever stronger reality, I am more excited, particularly in terms of distribution and the possibility that it gives us as film-makers, to lead a decent, paid, honest life that others do, cutting out the middlemen who take all our money after years of hard work when the film finally gets distributed (if you are that lucky). So, I am interested in using the 'digital revolution' to find my audiences and get to them directly. Power to the Film-maker!

I use Super8 at key big moments. At my wedding we shot some reels (a few triggers by my pa of course) and I filmed my honeymoon on Super 8 also. Most romantic!

7inch: You were working with less sensational footage than the home-movies in recent American docs like Capturing the Friedmans and Tarnation, but I guess encountering some similar issues concerning the boundaries between public and private. I wondered if there were any other films built around this kind of personal material which influenced you during the editing process?

SS: I only saw Tarnation really recently and honestly speaking found very little similarity with I for India although it is a film oft cited to me in relation to I for India. I didn't really use any film as a reference. On a very general level, I was approaching the film like a play with 3 acts. That is how it felt naturally. I - The yearning for home. II - The return to India. III - Back in England; the dream shattered.

As a starting point I had been very inspired by Nobody's Business by Alain Berliner but I knew that the film would never be like that. This is a wonderful film but my father is not the same type of character. I loved it for its intimacy. I knew though that my film would be more poetic intimacy than the really cosy intimacy that Berliner gets in this film.

7inch: Although I For India is very different from Tarnation, it raises a similar question -- after making your debut with something so close to home, how do you find another project which will engage you in the same way? Has this been tricky?

Finding another project to engage me as much as I for India will be very difficult. Not so much because it is personal, but because I loved the form of the film. It was a joy working with observational, archive and reconstructions in this way. The form was vital to me. And the archive simply amazing. Now I wonder about pure observational or investigative film. I need something with the same richness! I am looking though.

I For India is available now on DVD, and will be screening at 7 Inch Cinema on 27th April.