A Day In The Life

Billy Dosanjh

Billy Dosanjh

Posted 01 December 2016

New York Program

September 2003 Intake


Billy Dosanjh (New York, September 2003), a graduate of the London School of Economics, makes documentary films and artist films. His most recent film was on BBC4 and called Sikhs of Smethwick, and focused on how the Sikh community is maintaining tradition whilst adapting to British life. Read the review published by The Guardian newspaper.

How did you get into this line of business?
Blind luck, reckless gambling and experiments! Mountbatten can also work as random forays into possible futures. Michael Billett once said something that stuck with me through my 20s - that really, this is your decade to explore. It appealed to my vanity; to a persona of not fitting in.

Let's talk about a typical day. What time do you get up?
A typical day does not exist. If I am on a shoot, I’m out early to search for landscapes. Then it’s a day of filming working off a fluid script. On the other hand, if I am in between work I block my day into two hours of reading, an hour of guitar, two hours exercise, and the rest of the time procrastinating / planning. This time is important as when you are on a film, all your energy is taken up by the project and very little time is left for you or anybody else.

What tasks and projects do you have on the go at present?
I'm doing press for my most recent film on BBC4 Sikhs of Smethwick and editing a surrealist film shot with the Arts Council, about the early days of a marriage of a newly arrived migrant from the Punjab in 1950s Birmingham.

What time do you normally leave your workplace at the end of the working day?
I'm switched on every waking moment - the only way I switch off is walking into a pub!