search4sandeep

When Poppy Stockell, a sun-bleached Australian surfer butch, starts looking for love on the Internet, she doesn't expect to find Sandeep Virdi. Sandeep is a teacher's assistant living in London - with her very traditional Indian parents and four younger sisters. In addition to living a continent away, Sandeep is deeply in the closet and she's never had a physical relationship, not even with herself. The unlikely love affair blossoms despite the odds, and soon enough e-mails turn into long-distance phone calls and then into an in-person meeting in Bangkok. The two women document their deepening relationship with excruciatingly honest video-diary footage. With the challenges of coming out, cultural differences and family drama, their relationship becomes increasingly tumultuous, but Poppy and Sandeep persevere. Startlingly frank and at times painfully naive, Searching 4 Sandeep is a highly original autobiographical work and an awkward, hopeful ode to love in the digital age. Audience Award, Documentary, Sydney Film Festival 2007