Distance covers a road journey undertaken by Ambika to drop her best friend Meera’s 13 year old son Dhruv back to his boarding school a few months after the sudden death of his father. The air of grief and loss hangs heavy through the ride, as does an added layer of animosity that the boys bears her for no clear reason. Things only get worse when her careless driving causes Dhruv’s prized possession– a science project of a windmill he’s laboured over for weeks, to break. Ambika, dealing with silent demons of her own, attempts to redeem herself with several acts of empathy, but the more she tries to reach out to Dhruv, the further he seems to pivot from her. She dutifully soldiers on, safely ensconcing him back in school. Till finally, he confronts her with the painful secret that she till then felt was hers alone to bear.
Swapnil S. Sonawane grew up in an environment of image making; his family owned and ran a photo colour lab in Pune, Maharashtra. He started his career by shooting the groundbreaking travel documentary shows, ‘Dewarists' (Bronze Lion Cannes 2012) and ‘Sound Trippin’. Pan Nalin’s ‘Angry Indian Goddesses’ (TIFF 2015) was Swapnil’s debut feature fiction film, earning him his first nomination for best cinematography at the Indian Filmfare Awards. He was nominated for a second time with ‘Newton’ (Berlin 2017). Post that and apart from a slew of Indian feature films, Swapnil co-shot 'Sacred Games’ (2018/9), Netflix’s first ever Indian series, and its season 2 earned him an OTT Indian Filmfare Award for Best Cinematography. Swapnil also shot – ‘Last Film Show’, directed by Pan Nalin which was India’s official entry to the Oscars 2023, while his work on ‘Monica Oh My Darling’ directed by Vasan Bala was awarded another OTT Indian Filmfare Award for Best Cinematography. His recent work includes Alia Bhatt starrer ‘Jigra’ directed by Vasan Bala, Reema Kagti’s ‘Superboys of Malegaon’ (TIFF 2024) & Subhadra Mahajan’s ‘Second Chance (Karlovy Vary Proxima Competition 2024) on which he is also Executive Producer. ‘Distance’ (2025) commissioned by Fujifilm is his directorial debut.
The New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) is the oldest, most prestigious film festival screening premieres of feature, documentary and
short films made from, of, and about the Indian subcontinent in the Independent, arthouse, alternate and diaspora genres.
