# Sonita Gale

Sonita Gale is a British-Indian film director, writer, and producer based in London, known for the political documentary Hostile (2022), which explores the Home Office’s ‘hostile environment’ policy towards migrants in the UK.

## Early life

Born and raised in Wolverhampton, Gale was one of ten children born to Indian immigrant parents. Her mother and father were Sikhs who emigrated from Punjab following the Partition of India in 1947; her mother walked for 16 consecutive days from Lahore to Punjab before traveling to the UK. The couple went on to own a convenience shop in Bilston, Wolverhampton. Gale cites her upbringing in a "mixed community" in the West Midlands as inspiration for her films, which often grapple with themes of migration, diaspora, community and belonging.
She attended Hall Green School and Bilston Community College, before studying for a BSc in Psychology at London Guildhall University.
Gale has spoken in interviews about the racial abuse she received growing up, which included being called racist slurs and being chased down a street by the National Front.

## Career

Before embarking on her career as a filmmaker, Gale was a headhunter at Harvey Nash and Glotel.
In 2011, Gale established her production company, Galeforce Films. Her first production, Andrew Carnegie: Rags to Riches, Power to Peace (2015), charted the rise of 19th century industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. It was narrated by actor Brain Cox and broadcast on BBC Scotland.
Gale has produced a number of other short films and series including International Health Service (2020) with BAFTA-nominated documentary filmmaker Ursula Macfarlane and Happy Epidemic (2020), a web series produced from home during the coronavirus pandemic featuring former Channel 4 News journalist and anchor Jon Snow.
Gale is currently embarking on her first short film, while also developing a feature film about the life of Andrew Carnegie to be co-produced with Nicole Ansari, starring Brian Cox.

## Hostile (2022)

In 2022, Gale directed, produced and wrote the documentary Hostile, which examines the human stories behind the UK government’s ‘hostile environment’ immigration policy ushered in by the Clegg-Cameron coalition. She made the film during the Coronavirus pandemic, saying the community response “made me think of my childhood growing up in the Midlands with Sikh parents, [where] my father’s corner shop was the hub of the community.”
The film explores the experiences of four Britons from Black and Asian backgrounds, including an NHS worker who had ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) during the Coronavirus pandemic under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; a victim of the Windrush scandal who was detained and threatened with deportation between 2015 and 2017 despite living in the UK since the age of eight; and a couple who served more than 350,000 meals to NHS staff and vulnerable people during the pandemic.
The film also features a number of prominent voices on immigration policy, including MP Stephen Timms, writer and academic Maya Goodfellow, campaigner Patrick Vernon, spoken-word artist George the Poet, MP Zarah Sultana, and musician Nitin Sawhney.
Hostile premiered at Raindance Film Festival on 29 October 2021 and was longlisted for awards by BAFTA and BIFA. Gale has since given interviews with David Lammy on LBC, Mariella Frostrup on Times Radio, and Amelia Gentleman in The Guardian.

## Personal life

Gale is married with two children and lives in North London. She is a keen theatergoer, an avid Prince fan and a follower of the Tracy Anderson fitness method.

## Filmography

| Film | Credit(s) | Accolades |
| Andrew Carnegie: Rags to Riches, Power to Peace (2015) | Producer | Best Feature Documentary - Pittsburgh Independent Film Festival Best Documentary - United International Film Festival Official Selection - Edinburgh International Film Festival Official Selection - EyeCatcher Film Festival |
| International Health Service (2020) | Producer | Grand Jury Award - Oniros Film Awards Official Selection - Lady Filmmakers Festival |
| Happy Epidemic (2020) | Producer | Official Selection - The Web Series Filmmaker Showcase 2021 Official Selection - Best Shorts Competition 2021 Official Selection - California Indies 2021 Official Selection - LA Sun Film Fest 2021 Official Selection - Montreal Independent Film Festival 2021 Official Selection - Diversity in Cannes Short Film & Webseries Showcase 2021 Official Selection - Lighthouse International Film Festival 2021 Official Selection - Bilbao Seriesland Web Festival 2021 Official Selection - Sicily Web Fest 2021 Official Selection - First Time Filmmaker - Lift Off Global Network 2021 Official Selection - Copenhagen Web Fest 2021 |
| Hostile (2022 film) (2022) | Director, writer, producer | Longlisted - BAFTA, Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer 2022 Longlisted – BIFA, Best Debut Director, Best Documentary and Raindance Discovery Award 2021 Winner, Best Documentary Feature – Filmocracy Fest 2022 Winner, Best Documentary Feature – The Roxbury International Film Festival 2022 Winner – South London Film Festival 2021 Best Documentary Feature Award of Excellence (Special Mention) - The Impact DOCS Awards 2022 Best Indie Feature Film, Honourable Mention - The Best Indie Film Awards 2022 Finalist, Supreme Award & Best Director (International) - Melbourne Documentary Film Festival 2022 Finalist - Catalina Film Festival Nominee, Best Documentary - British Urban Film Festival 2022 Nominee, Best International Documentary and Overall Audience Favourite - NorthwestFest International Documentary Film Festival 2022 Official Selection - Global Health Film Festival 2022 Official Selection - Naples Human Rights Film Festival 2022 Official Selection - Red Carpet Human Rights Film Festival 2022 Official Selection - DOCtober 2022 Official Selection - Festival des Libertés 2022 Official Selection - New Generations Independent Indian Film Festival 2022 Official Selection - UK Asian Film Festival 2022 Official Selection - Budapest Movie Awards 2022 Official Selection - Manchester Film Festival 2022 Official Selection - ZagrebDox 2022 Official Selection - Berlin Lift-Off Film Festival 2022 Official Selection – Cambridge Film Festival 2021 Official Selection – London Migration Film Festival 2021 Official Selection – Raindance Film Festival 2021 |