Meet Indira Somani

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Indira Somani a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Indira, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

I am from Springfield, IL, home of President Abraham Lincoln, the heart of the farmland, but not a suburb of Chicago. My parents came to the U.S. as international students from India in the early 60s, before the U.S. removed its quota on how many Asians (including Indians) were allowed in the country. Although I was born in Pittsburgh, Springfield will always be my hometown. I get my resilience from the ability to adapt to a different culture and people growing up in Springfield in the 70s, a somewhat rural community, where people thought India was a land of snake charmers. The stereotypes perpetuated in the minds of these Midwestern individuals forced me to be resilient, because I was fortunate for travel to India throughout my childhood and experience the joys of my extended family and rich culture of my parents’ homeland. My sense of resilience also came from always knowing there was a world outside of Springfield. My parents used to drive 200 miles to Chicago to do their Indian grocery shopping. My aunt in the U.S. lived in New York City. We’re not the “Patels,” so she was our only family, giving me a chance to be exposed major metropolitan areas at a young age. I know the act of resilience is “to recover quickly from difficulties.” I have faced rejections from college, graduate school, and job applications, not to mention grant proposals. But something inside me always found the strength to persevere. I was taught at an early age from my father, who also instilled a disciplined work ethic, to search for my inner strength to overcome obstacles and to keep going.

My career consists of three acts. As a television news producer, some of the newsrooms where I worked in the ‘90s were filled with loud voices, sexist and racist language, but knew I was there to do a job. Working behind the scenes as a news producer, where I could make editorial decisions about what we see on television to prevent perpetuating stereotypes, was an opportunity to create change in news coverage, so ethnic and racial groups did not feel marginalized in mainstream media. I had great mentors in the newsroom, who also gave me the support to feel resilient and keep going, despite the chaos.

As a former broadcast journalism professor, I first taught at Washington and Lee University, embedded in southern culture with predominantly white students from wealthy backgrounds, many of whom had never seen a woman of color in a position of authority. The university is located in Lexington, VA, a town of 7,000 people, where Robert E. Lee and his horse are buried on the campus. I never thought I would be living in a town smaller than Springfield, IL, but at the time, it was a great opportunity after earning my Ph.D. Living in Lexington was oppressive, but it forced me to be resilient despite the difficulties of the small-town community and campus culture.

Becoming a full-time documentary filmmaker, my current career path, has also taught me about resilience and the tenacity needed to keep trying despite rejections from film festivals and grant applications. It is a profession filled with rejection, but as a filmmaker, I must believe in the content my film: The story about my relationship with my mother, Shipra and her 20+ year struggle with depression, how I have become her caregiver and how we must learn to accept our new reality. I am determined to complete my current feature documentary film, which is in post-production, because mental illness is not always talked about in the South Asian community, given that many people believe it will bring shame to the family. I want to shed light on this important subject, and I believe my persistence to complete this project will pay off.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

My 3-act career path includes: first, as a television news producer (10 years), second, as a broadcast journalism professor/scholar (18 years) and most recently, as a full-time documentary filmmaker. But regardless of where I have worked, I have always been focused on the construction of identity. I have done extensive research in intercultural communication and cultural identity to foster better understanding between different ethnic groups. As someone who has straddled two cultures growing up in the U.S., specifically as an Indian-American woman in the Midwest, my lived experience has enhanced my ability to produce research and documentary films about how people survive and thrive, while maintaining a distinct cultural identity.

I am currently in production on my first feature film, “I Love You More Than My Life,” (aka Mom and Me), with Producer Erin Ploss-Campoamor, editor Bipasha Shom, and DP Raquel Hagman, who have been invaluable to establishing the structure, artistry, nuance, and emotional arcs in the film.

Logline: Indira returns home to Springfield, Illinois, to care for her aging South Asian mother, who struggles with depression. As she reflects on her mother’s vibrant past, as an award-winning social worker who immigrated entirely on her own from India, Indira struggles to balance her roles as caregiver and daughter, while protecting her own mental health.

This film also explores identity construction through the use of interviews, archival (Super 8 footage from the ‘70s and ‘80s) and observational footage. The story is about my relationship with my mother, Shipra. In my film, I address her 20+ year struggle with depression, how I have become her caregiver and how we must learn to accept our new reality. The bond between mother and daughter is often complex, and ours is further complicated by the fact that she is an Indian immigrant, and I am a second generation Indian American. Both of us are extremely headstrong and independent, yet we still have certain expectations and cultural norms ingrained in us, around caregiving and mental health. This film is important, because mental illness is not always talked about in the South Asian community, given that many people believe it will bring shame to the family. In addition, mental illness is a disease suffered by many older Americans. With this project, I have gained support from the South Asian Mental Health Initiative & Network (SAMHIN); the Khushalani Foundation; the Caucus Foundation; the Carole Fielding Grant from UFVA (University Film and Video Assn.), multiple Mary Pickford Donor Awards and most recently the 2024 CAAM (the Center for Asian American Media) Documentary Fund.

Indira’s Background Story:
My interest in journalism and representation stems from how mainstream media perpetuated stereotypes of the Indian Diaspora and portrayed India only as a poor, underdeveloped country. In general, news coverage has rarely showed India’s rich culture and thriving industries in technology, textiles and agriculture. I began my journalism career in high school when I covered the small South Asian community in Springfield, IL for India Tribune (a publication based in Chicago that covers the Indian Diaspora). I went to a small liberal arts college in the Midwest, Knox College, in Galesburg, IL, but unfortunately it had no journalism degree. I, thus, created an independent major called, “Media, Race and Gender,” which included Women’s Studies, African American Studies, Creative Writing, Asian-American Studies, Sociology and Media Studies courses. While I was in college, I also spent a semester in Chicago in the “Urban Studies” program to learn about urban problems and interned at the CBS affiliate. I loved being in the newsroom and realized that working behind the scenes as a news producer, where I can make editorial decisions about what we see on television to prevent perpetuating stereotypes, was the best career path for me. I knew then I wanted to create change in news coverage, so ethnic and racial groups did not feel marginalized in mainstream media.

Most South Asians of my generation were expected to go to medical school or pursue engineering. Instead, I earned an NBC National Fellowship and Scripps-Howard Foundation Scholarship to pursue my master’s at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Upon graduating, I landed a job as a news producer and worked in small markets for a few years, until I joined WJLA-TV in Washington, DC as a producer from 1996-2000, where I was still the only South Asian in the newsroom. I started out producing the Weekend newscasts and quickly worked my way up to producing the 6pm newscast and 11pm newscast, Monday-Friday.

As a field producer, I was blessed with opportunities to cover the 25th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, where the crew and I traveled to Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Ha Long Bay with a Vietnam Veteran’s delegation. I was also on the campaign in 2000, producing profiles of the potential first ladies: Tipper Gore, Laura Bush, Ernestine Bradley, and Cindy McCain during the 2000 New Hampshire primaries. I also earned a “Gracie Allen Award,” American Women in Radio and Television, 1998, for producing a series on “Working Women” in the greater DC metropolitan area, covering stories, such as, Katherine Graham, the former publisher of the Washington Post; Ann Stock, the former White House Social Secretary; as well as women in the military in Quantico. But my real love was when I produced stories about the South Asian community in DC, specifically a story on “Diwali,” (the Hindu festival of lights that symbolizes the spiritual victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance) which won “Outstanding story on South Asians in North America,” (1999) from the South Asian Journalists Assn. (SAJA); and on the “Technology Boom in Northern Virginia,” which also won “Outstanding story on South Asians in North America,” SAJA, 2000. While I lived in DC, I ran the DC Chapter of SAJA from 1997-2000, which hosted monthly events with prolific reporters covering Washington, DC. I am indebted to SAJA, an organization that provided much support when no one else looked like me in the newsroom.

In 2000, I moved to New York to work for CNBC as a Senior Producer. I lived in New York when 9/11 happened and was gifted with resources from the NBC Network to produce newscasts with live shots from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Ground Zero, the White House and other places. During that time, I became SAJA’s National Vice President, Convention Chair, New York, NY, which was in June 2002. At that convention, SAJA implemented a new award in honor of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal Reporter slain in Pakistan, for his post 9/11 coverage.

Later in 2002, my father suddenly passed away, which sparked the need for a career change, thus my appointment as Assistant Professor at American University in Washington, DC, specifically to teach broadcast producing. It was there that I discovered how much I love teaching and mentoring students. But I realized that if I want to have a career in academia, I should earn a Ph.D. to build a research agenda. As a result, I was awarded a Teaching Assistantship to the University of Maryland, Philip Merrill College of Journalism in 2004 to fund my doctoral education.

My dissertation focused on the identity construction of Asian-Indians in the U.S. and their use of television. I examined how a specific generation of the Indian diaspora from the Washington, DC area used satellite television to stay connected to their homeland. From that study, I produced journal articles on acculturation and ethnic identity, which uncovered how American television helped Asian Indians assimilate to the U.S. as well as judge Indian programming available on the satellite dish using their “American Filter.”

While I researched and wrote my dissertation, I simultaneously co-directed and co-produced a documentary film, Crossing Lines, about my own identity as an Indian American woman and my connection to India after the loss of my father (who migrated to the U.S. from India in 1961). For many South Asians, like me, born and brought up in the U.S., our identity to Indian culture is tied to our parents. But once our parents have passed on, our connection to their homeland is weakened. I started this film after earning a faculty grant at American University, co-written with a colleague

Crossing Lines screened in film festivals all over the U.S. and England, Australia, India and South Africa. The film won numerous awards such as: “Honorable Mention,” University Film and Video Assn., August 2009; “Best American Documentary,” Heart of England International Film Festival, June 2009; “Best Documentary-Short,” Gracie Allen Award, Alliance for Women in Media, June 2009; “Bronze Palm Winner” Mexico International Film Festival, May 2009; “Best Documentary Award,” California Arts Assn. Digital Short Film Festival, Jan. 2009; “Runner Up for The Best Short Documentary Film,” Baltimore Women’s Film Festival, Oct. 2008; and is distributed by New Day Films and on Kanopy. This personal documentary screened on PBS affiliates through NETA from 2008-2011. It also had a social impact globally, because it became a tool to teach intercultural communication in the classroom. More than 200 university librarians and/or professors have purchased the film targeting identity for 2nd generation Asian Americans, the immigrant story, the father-daughter relationship, gender roles in another culture and the death of a parent. Furthermore, it has been well-received in subject areas such as South Asian Studies, Asian-American Studies, Women’s Studies, International Studies, Multicultural Studies, Ethnic Studies, Documentary Studies, Sociology and Anthropology.

After earning my Ph.D. in 2008, I accepted a position as Assistant Professor at Washington and Lee University (W & L) embedded in southern culture with predominantly white students from wealthy backgrounds. The university is located in Lexington, VA, a town of 7,000 people, where Robert E. Lee and his horse are buried on the campus. Despite being hired in the Journalism Dept., I created a course call “Cross-cultural Documentary Filmmaking” where students wrote, shot, and produced video profiles of the various international students on campus. It allowed both domestic and international students to engage in conversation to learn about the types of issues they each faced in their respective countries. My experience with this course forced domestic students to think critically about their own privilege and to understand the challenges international students faced in the U.S.

But it was not easy to live In Lexington, VA. While I remained on W & L’s faculty, I was awarded a Fulbright-Nehru Senior Research Fellowship to India in 2011, where I researched the Western influence of Indian programming with news organizations in Delhi and entertainment companies in Mumbai. That research led to a book chapter, “TV news in India: Journalists in transition,” in Critical Perspectives on Journalistic Beliefs and Actions: Global Experiences, Routledge (New York, NY), 2018. While I was in India, I also directed, wrote and shot Life on the Ganges. This film used an intersectional approach to understand the socio-economic lives of the boatmen, who give boat rides on the Ganges River as part of a spiritual experience in Varanasi, India. The film introduces the audience to the river, an auspicious event called “Dev Diwali,” and one particular boatman, whose main source of strength and survival comes from the Ganges. This film screened in film festivals in the U.S., Europe and India. It won Best Short Documentary at the Cannes Short Film Festival, Nice, France (2017), Best Short Documentary at the Berlin Independent Film Festival (2018). The film is also distributed by New Day and has been well-received by Religious and South Asian studies departments across colleges and universities in the U.S., Canada, and Australia.

In 2012, I was appointed as an Assistant Professor at Howard University (an HBCU), which was a complete 180-degree shift in my teaching career. I felt like I left the confederate South and joined the Civil Rights movement. I had never taught at an HBCU, but I was excited to be back in Washington, D.C., the start of my most formative years as a television news producer. Teaching at Howard was by far the best years of my teaching career, where I was treated with respect by the students and earned grants to complete post-production and distribution for Life on the Ganges.

After earning tenure at Howard in 2018, I asked myself, “what do I really want to do with my life?” My love for documentary filmmaking grew with the production of Life on the Ganges, and I looked for an opportunity to build that skill-set. I researched workshops and other opportunities, but I discovered at Howard that I was entitled to a leave of absence without pay after tenure if I wanted a longer leave rather than a sabbatical. After gaining admission as a Teaching Fellow to UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television (TFT) to earn an MFA in Directing/Production in Documentary program, I made the bold journey to sell my house in Maryland and move to the West Coast, where I could continue to push myself and grow as a documentary filmmaker. In 2021, I officially resigned from my tenured position as an Associate Professor at Howard and in 2023, I graduated with my MFA, and launched my production company, 1970 Productions, LLC.

In conclusion, my career path is unusual in that it spans both traditional and creative work, grounded in identity construction, where my lived experience has informed my research to publish several journal articles, book chapters and produce documentary films. I have taken an entrepreneurial approach to my career path, where I explore social identity and racial identity, specifically through filmmaking, media effects and uses, media representations, media stereotypes among South Asians as well as African Americans. Currently, through the making of “I Love You More Than My Life,” I am rediscovering my own identity as a caregiver to my South Asian mother, who struggles with mental health.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Networking, which includes follow-up emails after attending events where I have met people in person. I have always used business cards or some electronic way to exchange contact information at events. My advice to folks early in their journey is to be ready and prepared to do that. On a personal level, I have always had a vast mailing list of holiday cards with hand-written notes in each card; in addition, I send hand-written Thank You notes or birthday cards with long messages. Emails are good, but for some friends, who are also a professional connection, the hand-written note in the card has proven to be fruitful.

I have the memory of an elephant. I remember conversations I’ve had with people from 20+, 30+, even 40+ years ago. I am an oral learner, so I usually remember exactly what people said, so I can continue to relate to people in future conversations. Being born with the gift of memory is pure luck and genes.

The journalism world, academic world, and the documentary world are small, respectively. I learned early on that everyone knows everyone. I believe in being careful in what I say and/or how I present myself. I have tried not to burn bridges with anyone, but I’m sure I’ve made decisions that left an impact that was unsatisfactory. Don’t let your pride or ego get in the way of your journey, it will prevent you from moving forward both personally and professionally in life. Say “Thank you,” be gracious and/or apologize, if necessary. Don’t take anyone’s support for granted.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

I began pre-production on “I Love You More Than My Life,” in the fall of 2020, and filming started in January of 2021. More funding is a particular challenge that I am currently facing with the film, as I try and complete it. Although we received funds from CAAM, Center of Asian American Media, and I raised about $60k with a Kickstarter campaign that I had in January of 2024, I still need to raise more funds to finish the film and that is the number one obstacle that I am trying to overcome, so I can make the best film possible. Erin (the producer) and I applied for more grants applications this past summer, some of which we’ve already received rejection notices. We are still waiting to hear from the remaining grant applications. I would also love to find an impact producer who is interested in collaborating with us for film festivals and distribution, someone who really understands circumstances around caregiving, mental health, the South Asian community, and why this film is important. In addition, as I try and re-enter academia, I find myself faced with ageism, because I thought my experience teaching a variety of different types of students would be an asset.

On a separate note, because I love all the questions asked by Bold Journey, my father’s greatest impact was instilling a disciplined work ethic, which made me understand the value of hard work; my mother’s greatest impact has been to always be gracious and kind to people.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.indirasomani.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indira.somani.1/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/indira.somani.1/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/indira-s-somani-3258164/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/isomani

Image Credits

Photo by Ingrid Sanchez (Personal Photo)
Indira on set as DP of “The Dark Horse

Additional Photos
Photo by Robert Denfeld
Indira on set for “I Love You More Than My Life,” directing a scene in a doctor’s office with Shipra (her mother) and Dr. Priyanka Bhandari in Springfield, IL, November 2022.

Photo by Netanel Brezak
Indira Somani (headshot)

Photo by Raquel Hagman
Indira and Shipra (her mother) on set at the Hindu Temple in Springfield, IL, Summer of 2021

Photo by Subhra Ghosh
Indira and her mother, Mother’s Day, 2014, Paramus, NJ

Photo by Raquel Hagman
Indira in a Cinematography class at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television

Photo by one of the waiters at the restaurant, Baar Baar
Erin Ploss-Campoamor, Bipasha Shom, Shipra Somani, and Indira Somani celebrating “I Love You More Than My Life”

Photo by: Balca Sagmanli
Indira on set of “To Live in a Body,” working as Script Supervisor with director Greg Armstrong