Uploaded August 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
I visit my grandfather's house on the 5th anniversary of his death, missing him dearly. Spending time there, in his absence, leads to revelations about him from my grandmother, the house maid and my father that disgust, shock and hurt me. I am torn between conflicting stories of who my grandfather was. While dealing with these stories of terrible marriages and troubling parenthood, I also have to tackle my grandmother and the house maid nagging me to get married. Meanwhile, the house itself seems to come alive with his presence, along with the tree outside our house.
Grant Winner, PSBT Doc_Commune 2022-23
Directed by Alvina Joshi, 2023
Producer: Rajiv Mehrotra
Film Festivals and Accolades:
32nd International Festival of Ethnological Film, Belgrade Serbia
Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2023
Mumbai International Film Festival 2024
Short-listed for Toto Funds the Arts Award
Longlisted for the GZ Doc Golden Kepok Award
Finalist at Out of the Can Film Festival
RED FM Film Festival Pune (2024)
Screened at Veda Factory, Mumbai
Alvina is an editor and filmmaker, born in 1997 and raised in Bangalore, India. She pursued her
Bachelor's degree in Psychology, Literature, and Journalism, before completing her editing
degree from Whistling Woods International, Mumbai, in 2020. Alvina has always been
passionate about art and storytelling, which led her to pursue a career in film editing
She has been working as an editor for 3 years, having edited Fiction, Non-fiction and
Commercials.
She attended Interaction - Filmart, Serbia (2022) and Docedge Kolkata (2023) with her second
documentary.
“My Grandfather’s House” is her first directorial venture.
Rajiv Mehrotra is the Founding Managing Trustee and Commissioning Editor of PSBT - his films have won more than 300 awards worldwide, including 32 in 31 years from the President of India. His nine books are available in 50 languages and editions. He also serves as the Trustee/ Secretary of the Foundation for Universal Responsibility of HH the Dalai Lama.
PSBT is a not-for-profit that nurtures and supports the production of independent documentary films by a diversity of filmmakers from across India. Over two decades, it has produced close to 700 documentary films, each film averaging two film festival selections and every second film an award.
PSBT is led by some of India's iconic film personalities - Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Sharmila Tagore and Kiran Karnik. Shyam Benegal, Mrinal Sen, Aruna Vasudev and Fali Nariman were also Trustees in their lifetimes.
Since 2025, Aparna Sanyal has been leading PSBT as Director. She is a national award-winning filmmaker, and an experienced broadcast professional who has held leadership roles in various media organisations, including the India Chapter of the International Association of Women in Radio & Television.
This film is a part of PSBT's mentoring initiative, Doc_Commune. Launched in 2021, the programme offers a dedicated space for young filmmakers to engage with experienced professionals, refine their projects, and build a supportive community. Through a series of masterclasses, feedback sessions, and conversations, Doc_Commune encourages creative exploration while offering practical guidance on the documentary process. It serves as a bridge between early-career filmmakers and the larger documentary ecosystem. Harjas Singh works on Doc_Commune as Assistant Producer.
Credits
Director: Alvina Abhijeet Joshi
Associate Director: Rahul Rabha
Cinematographer: Omkar Khandagale
Editor: Mehdi Jahan
Sound Recordist, Designer, and Mixing Engineer: Rahul Rabha
Development Cinematographer: Saloni Sakhardande
Music: Tapanjyoti Phukan
Mentor: Hansa Thapliyal
Producer and Commissioning Editor: Rajiv Mehrotra
Executive Producer: Aparna Sanyal
Doc_Commune Team: Imrana Khan, Purnima Mehta
Produced by PSBT
psbt.org/; psbt.org/doc_commune
For festival, screening, and sale queries, please write to distribution[at]psbt[dot]org
Last updated: October 2025
I visit my grandfather's house on the 5th anniversary of his death, missing him dearly. Spending time there, in his absence, leads to revelations about him from my grandmother, the house maid and my father that disgust, shock and hurt me. I am torn between conflicting stories of who my grandfather was. While dealing with these stories of terrible marriages and troubling parenthood, I also have to tackle my grandmother and the house maid nagging me to get married. Meanwhile, the house itself seems to come alive with his presence, along with the tree outside our house.
Grant Winner, PSBT Doc_Commune 2022-23
Directed by Alvina Joshi, 2023
Producer: Rajiv Mehrotra
Film Festivals and Accolades:
32nd International Festival of Ethnological Film, Belgrade Serbia
Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2023
Mumbai International Film Festival 2024
Short-listed for Toto Funds the Arts Award
Longlisted for the GZ Doc Golden Kepok Award
Finalist at Out of the Can Film Festival
RED FM Film Festival Pune (2024)
Screened at Veda Factory, Mumbai
Alvina is an editor and filmmaker, born in 1997 and raised in Bangalore, India. She pursued her
Bachelor's degree in Psychology, Literature, and Journalism, before completing her editing
degree from Whistling Woods International, Mumbai, in 2020. Alvina has always been
passionate about art and storytelling, which led her to pursue a career in film editing
She has been working as an editor for 3 years, having edited Fiction, Non-fiction and
Commercials.
She attended Interaction - Filmart, Serbia (2022) and Docedge Kolkata (2023) with her second
documentary.
“My Grandfather’s House” is her first directorial venture.
Rajiv Mehrotra is the Founding Managing Trustee and Commissioning Editor of PSBT - his films have won more than 300 awards worldwide, including 32 in 31 years from the President of India. His nine books are available in 50 languages and editions. He also serves as the Trustee/ Secretary of the Foundation for Universal Responsibility of HH the Dalai Lama.
PSBT is a not-for-profit that nurtures and supports the production of independent documentary films by a diversity of filmmakers from across India. Over two decades, it has produced close to 700 documentary films, each film averaging two film festival selections and every second film an award.
PSBT is led by some of India's iconic film personalities - Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Sharmila Tagore and Kiran Karnik. Shyam Benegal, Mrinal Sen, Aruna Vasudev and Fali Nariman were also Trustees in their lifetimes.
Since 2025, Aparna Sanyal has been leading PSBT as Director. She is a national award-winning filmmaker, and an experienced broadcast professional who has held leadership roles in various media organisations, including the India Chapter of the International Association of Women in Radio & Television.
This film is a part of PSBT's mentoring initiative, Doc_Commune. Launched in 2021, the programme offers a dedicated space for young filmmakers to engage with experienced professionals, refine their projects, and build a supportive community. Through a series of masterclasses, feedback sessions, and conversations, Doc_Commune encourages creative exploration while offering practical guidance on the documentary process. It serves as a bridge between early-career filmmakers and the larger documentary ecosystem. Harjas Singh works on Doc_Commune as Assistant Producer.
Credits
Director: Alvina Abhijeet Joshi
Associate Director: Rahul Rabha
Cinematographer: Omkar Khandagale
Editor: Mehdi Jahan
Sound Recordist, Designer, and Mixing Engineer: Rahul Rabha
Development Cinematographer: Saloni Sakhardande
Music: Tapanjyoti Phukan
Mentor: Hansa Thapliyal
Producer and Commissioning Editor: Rajiv Mehrotra
Executive Producer: Aparna Sanyal
Doc_Commune Team: Imrana Khan, Purnima Mehta
Produced by PSBT
psbt.org/; psbt.org/doc_commune
For festival, screening, and sale queries, please write to distribution[at]psbt[dot]org
Last updated: October 2025
