FILMMAKER | PRODUCER | STORYTELLER
“My curiosity, passion for exploration, and dedication to social justice inspire me to illuminate compelling personal stories from underrepresented communities through innovative storytelling and unique perspectives.”
About Pri:
Pri Suryaneni is an Indian-origin media entrepreneur, documentarian, and visual storyteller residing in the unceded Ohlone lands (Fremont, CA). Her work amplifies local Bay Area and South Asian stories of immigration, identity, marginalization, resistance, joy, and community, spotlighting voices often overlooked within mainstream narratives. She has produced work in five languages: English, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, and Punjabi.
Her current body of work represents the culmination of over a decade and a half of filmmaking expertise and a deep dedication to addressing social justice concerns. She focuses on creating character-driven, verite-style, and experimental documentaries. Her journey in visual storytelling commenced as an assistant director in Bollywood, India. Eventually, she founded her own production company, Pensar Creations. Pri has produced television shows, short fiction narratives, documentaries, corporate videos, and Ad films.
In 2019, Pri transitioned to documentary filmmaking through a mid-career program at the USC Annenberg School of Journalism, specializing in documentary filmmaking and social justice reporting. During the pandemic, she relocated to the Bay Area and launched Shift Focus Narratives, a YouTube channel that spotlighted immigrant communities, non-mainstream stories, grassroots movements, and local artists.
Her recent projects include a narrative short about a Tibetan monk who founded the Bay Area's largest Tibetan monastery to preserve his culture and traditions, which is currently making its festival run. She is also producing a feature documentary on the little-known history of the early 1900s radical Ghadar Movement led by South Asian immigrants.
Pri is a USC Graduate Fellow ('19), a participant in the 2021 New York Times Student Journalism Institute, an L.A. Press Fellow ('21), and a current BAVC Connect mentee. Her film Saraṇam Gacchâmi was a semi-finalist at the San Francisco Arthouse Short Festival and the Sacramento Independent Film Festival, and it won awards at the Religion Faith International Film Festival and The Florida South Asian Film Festival. It has also been selected for the Jaipur Film Festival, the LA Independent Women Film Awards, and The Indian World Film Festival. Her work has been supported by the Asian American Documentary Network, For Us By Us Film Incubator, Filmmakers Collaborative SF, Re-Present Media, and the East Bay Community Foundation.