The Road Home

Hidden Immigrant - Former student and filmmaker Rahul Gandotra finds his 'Road Home' to Woodstock.

The school campus became the set for Rahul Gandotra, who attended Woodstock from 1986-92, and for his film crew, as they embarked on his short film entitled 'The Road Home'. Gandotra directed the film as his thesis project for his Master's film directing degree. He has been editing and finalizing the film for the past six months and is near completion, due to be completed in October 2009.

The film is about Pico, a nine-year old boy, who runs away from Woodstock to get back to his home in England. In the film, Gandotra, who himself is British but of Indian heritage, explores the pressures and obstacles of being viewed as an Indian when one has the features of an Indian but the background and upbringing of a foreigner.

"When I first came to study in India, I was, in effect, an immigrant but because I looked Indian, I was expected to be Indian: speaking the language, eating the food, and knowing the culture. When I couldn't speak the language or didn't know much about the culture, I was teased about it.

"Given the history between India and Britain, I was even blamed for denying my 'Indianness,' irrespective of what I felt myself to be. This struggle between what I felt inside and how the outside world viewed me was the idea I wanted to highlight in the film."

The Road Home, which is twenty-one minutes long, was shot in Woodstock from October 23-November 2, 2008. "As a beginning filmmaker, it is always better to film in places you know well," Rahul says, "And so, despite the difficulties and stresses of shooting for the first time in a foreign culture, it was made much easier because of my familiarity with Mussoorie and Woodstock. Of course, the huge assistance, help, and cooperation from Woodstock made shooting in the school relatively simple compared to the other locations I shot in." Several Woodstock students and staff also had short roles in the film.