Director Karla Murthy’s THE GAS STATION ATTENDANT documentary lovingly 
conveys the story of her father H.N. Shantha 
Murthy, life story. Beginning with his decision to escape the extreme poverty of his Indian village by running away. He travelled throughout India country in search of work, holding onto the belief that one day his life would change. It did, following a serendipitous encounter with a Texan couple. With a sponsored visa, he travelled to the US, but his American Dream was not 
to be fulfilled. Murthy’s film weaves together home videos and phone conversations recorded during her father’s stint as a gas station attendant, while also reflecting on her own identity as a first-generation American. What emerges is an intimate love 
letter – a meditation on a complicated father-daughter relationship and a poignant tribute to the immigrant working class. As Murthy recounts, “I had heard the stories of my father’s journey to America throughout my childhood. They had become our family folklore, a fairytale rags to 
riches story that ended with his arrival to the States to live happily ever after. But when my dad and I recorded those same stories while he was working at a gas station, they revealed a deeper truth.” Director / Producer / Editor Karla Murthy joins us for a conversation on her own childhood, being raised in a mixed family, the death of her mom, spending time with her dad, and how hearing her father’s voice in these recorded phone calls, has impacted her perception of him and her own life.
For more go to: thegasstationattendant.com
Sheffield DOCFEST 2025
June 19 , 2025 Curzon Theater 6:15pm – BOOK TICKETS
June 21, 2025 The Light 3:30pm – BOOK TICKETS
The Gas Station Attendant is a co-production of Greene Fort Productions LLC and the Independent Television Service (ITVS), Firelight Media and the Center for Asian American Media in association with PBS, with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
About the filmmaker – Karla Murthy is a director and Emmy-nominated producer. She began her career working for the veteran journalist Bill Moyers and has been a producer, shooter and correspondent for several news programs on PBS. Her award-winning work was described in the Columbia Journalism Review as “compelling, informative and compassionate.” Her directorial debut, the feature documentary The Place That Makes Us won Best of the Festival at Arlington Film Festival, Best Feature at Better Cities Festival and Emerging Documentary Filmmaker at Woods Hole Film Festival, and screened at the United Nations World Cities Day Event. The film had its national broadcast premiere on the WORLD Channel/PBS series America ReFramed. Most recently, she directed and edited the short film Love, Jamie about a transgender artist incarcerated in Texas which premiered at OUTFEST LA and won the Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Documentary Short and was called “one of the best short documentaries” by Texas Monthly. The film is now streaming on PBS American Masters. Karla is of Filipino and South Asian descent. She studied classical piano at the High School for Performing and Visual Arts in Houston and graduated from Oberlin College with a degree in Religion and Computer Science. Her work has been supported by Women Make Movies, the New York State Council of the Arts, Vital Projects Fund, the Firelight Media Residency at Slough Farm on Martha’s Vineyard, and the Yaddo artist residency.
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