THIS VIRTUAL EVENT WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A LIVE AUDIENCE Q&A (for viewers in California only)

Director Nishtha Jain is an award-winning Indian filmmaker best known for her documentaries Gulabi Gang and Lakshmi and Me. Most notably, she has been awarded the prestigious Chicken & Egg Award which recognises international women documentary filmmakers. She has won numerous awards including Amnesty International Awards for Human Rights, Best Documentary, International Association of Women in Radio and Television and best documentary awards at international film festivals. She is a 3rd i alum, having screened City of Photos, Lakshmi and Me, At My Doorstep, Family Album, Gulabi Gang, and her first short fiction (Proof), at the festival in previous years.

This year, we are thrilled to offer a process-peek into her current research on the farmers’ struggle to retain their sovereignty as food growers. Her research brings a close-up view of the large-scale protests against corporatization of Indian agriculture. As the food growers painstakingly cultivate resistance, they begin to reap an early harvest in the form of camaraderie and re-connection, remembering that theirs is a long history as keepers of this nation’s humanity and independence.

In this program, the filmmaker will share her experiences and reflect on the nuances of storytelling in the documentary form. She will offer her insights as an outsider looking in at one of the most significant protests in recent Indian history that transpired in surprising ways.