Hot Docs 2008

Love in the digital age is complex: immediate, yet distant, emotionally close, yet physically far. When Sydney-sider Poppy Stockell set out to "research" her light-hearted doc about the online lesbian dating scene, she had no idea that it would launch her on a journey that would change her life forever. Frustrated, lonely and single, 28-year-old Stockell finds more than just research on the Internet. To her surprise and delight she forges a deep online connection with an English woman, Sandeep Virdi. Poppy sends Sandeep a camera and we watch as their virtual long-distance crush blossoms into a very real physical relationship. But they face obstacles greater than the vast oceans that separate them. Sandeep is Sikh, lives at home with her conservative family and, at 31, is still in the closet about her sexuality. Through raw, incredibly frank footage, Searching 4 Sandeep follows Poppy and Sandeep's tumultuous relationship across two years and three continents.
-Sarah Whitehouse

Co-presented with Inside Out Toronto Lesbian & Gay Film and Video Festival