Family of Surnames (2025)

In the form of oral storytelling, we follow one family across Japan, America, and Singapore on multiple iPhones and a Sony camera, as they explore what it means to be Sindhi after the partition of India in 1947.

During the partition of British India in 1947, Hindu Sindhis were compelled to leave the land that has now become Pakistan. However, as the indigenous people of Sindh, both Muslim and Hindu Sindhis shared a rich and unique cultural heritage, blending Hindu, Islamic, Persian, and Greek influences in their traditions, language, and even religious practices. This distinct identity often left Hindu Sindhis feeling out of place in independent India. Amid rising nationalism and growing divisions, this film seeks to document the fading yet remarkable culture of the Sindhi people. Through intimate interviews with members of a large Sindhi family now living in Japan, America, and Singapore, it explores questions of identity, belonging, and how both their adopted homelands and their Sindhi heritage continue to evolve and coexist.