Q&A: A Glimpse Into the Heart of Another’s Family in Gyani Pradhan Wong Ah Sui’s Short Film, 'Our Family'
THE SUBJECT OF FAMILY — can feel both like an out-of-body experience and entirely too real; every family is unique, and yet we all experience a sense of familialism, whether with those chosen or born into. This phenomenon is captured perfectly in Gyani Pradhan Wong Ah Sui’s short film, Our Family. The audience is treated to an ecstatically sentimental film filled with a familiar warmth and heartache as we see into the experience of Gyani and his family. It is both intimate and relatable; we are allowed a glimpse inside, though we remain viewers on the outside. As we are taken through their experience, we see our own reflected in bits of it.
Like squishing together on the living room couch and flipping through an old photo album, Gyani stitches together a tapestry of photographs and videos with the voices of himself and his parents laid over a visual narrative. It is a wonderful format for the story, as we both see the past and hear the present. The film describes the family’s time living together in Sikkim before transitioning to Gyani’s move to the United States for school. It is a special opportunity for viewers to be let into this conversation as observers. The love and perseverance that is explored through a family’s hard choices — even while separated by thousands of miles — is deeply inspiring.
Read the interview below with Gyani Pradhan Wong Ah Sui to hear more about his short film, Our Family. We talk more about the making of the film, the experience of creating with his family, and Gyani’s creative processes.
LUNA: I was immediately drawn into the intimate portrait you made of you and your family’s experience — the heartfelt realness was both warm and lighthearted, while also tear-jerking. What emotions did you feel strongest while putting this short together?
GYANI: Working on my documentary, I was certainly reminded of how much I missed my parents, but I also was able to connect with them and piece together my childhood out of my parents’ and my memories. I also feel like I was able to get a glimpse into who my parents were even before I was born.
LUNA: How long did you know you wanted to make this short about your story? Was it a gradual realization or was there a certain moment where you knew you wanted to memorialize it in this medium?
GYANI: I think it came together rather gradually. I had initially set out to create a completely different documentary, but the circumstances were frustrating and I ended up switching subjects. My advisor, Soren Sorensen, urged me to look inward. He explained to me that I was my own best resource. Making my documentary personal made it logistically easier, but it had its own set of challenges because I ended up asking my parents and myself the hard questions.
LUNA: Did it feel strange to be interacting with your parents and family in this creative process, or was it a natural feeling? It must be a different sort of feeling to be having these conversations with the intention of sharing it with others, as opposed to regular familial conversations that remain private and sacred in a way.
GYANI: I think it took a little bit of time, but once we got going it all felt very natural. We just had normal conversations and told stories, but the key was forgetting that we were recording ourselves. While editing, I found myself reacting to the recordings of my parents, remembering not only the sounds of their voices but their idiosyncrasies and pronunciations. It felt like they were in the room with me and we were all laughing about how quickly my father confessed his love to my mother, reliving moments from their past. Despite the fact that we were talking about very private and personal moments, they are stories that are essential, truthful and authentic to what makes my family my family. I don’t think that the documentary would work as well if not for these intimate moments and stories.
LUNA: In your own words, what does this short mean for you? What were you hoping it would mean for other people?
GYANI: Working on this short was a concrete way for me to reconnect with my parents before going home to see them for the first time in two years this winter break. I feel like talking and reflecting about shared experiences and memories with them was really meaningful. I definitely see my parents more as real human beings who had full-fledged lives before I was around, but I don’t think it’s possible to completely get rid of the notion of their invincibility. I hope people are able to relate to the characters and see some of their own family in mine, and to cherish the past, especially for those who have left their homes and families.
LUNA: More on you specifically, Gyani, what has been the best and the hardest part about moving to the US? And if they’re the same thing that’s okay, too!
GYANI: My senior year of high school, I wrote a speech somewhat dedicated to my parents. I wondered if leaving home had really been “worth” all the heartache and homesickness. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to deliver the second part of my speech, which I had planned to write for a graduation, which ended up being a Zoom event and a car procession. But COVID disrupted quite literally everything, including my college plans and my parents’ first transatlantic journey. At the time, I claimed that it was worth leaving my family, but now I’m not so sure. Without really considering the full extent of the consequences of my actions, I made a steadfast decision at the age of 15 that has not allowed me to get back the time I wish I could have spent with my parents. But I’ve made another home for myself in Massachusetts.
LUNA: Creatively, what or who are some of your biggest inspirations? Do you feel you can see those inspirations come through in your work?
GYANI: Alfonso Cuarón, Edward Yang, and Gaspar Noé are all master filmmakers who excel as directors. I admire them all for the amount of attention they bring to every single part of the filmmaking process, whether it's Cuarón’s signature long takes, Noé’s fluid camera movement, or Yang’s patient pacing. While these filmmakers remained at the back of my mind, I found myself coming back to the atmospheric and dreamy sounds of Peter Cat Recording Co., an Indian indie band whose music evokes not only comfort, but specifically a sense and feeling of home.
LUNA: Lastly, what are your plans for the future? I can confidently say for myself that I’d be ecstatic to see more pieces by you!
GYANI: I’m planning on making many more short films in the years to come. In fact, I’m currently working on a narrative short that I might end up shooting sections of on Super 8 film, which is really exciting! While my documentary was nearly entirely a solo project, working on it with my friends made it so much more rewarding: Julia Colombotos beautifully inscribed every piece of text in the film, and Arina Kharakhashian, added digital wings art to a still of me. I enjoy making films a lot more when I’m making them with other people and I hope I get to do a lot more of this!
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