We are a group of media professionals working on issues of gender justice, human rights and development.

We founded DRISHTI as a trust in 1993, with a firm faith in the ability of video, theatre, radio, other media and the arts to contribute to struggles for a just, humane and peaceful society. Our work seeks to document alternative histories, give expression to voices on the margins, create public awareness and build public opinion, mobilize people to action, lobby with structures of authority.

We believe that social communication need not be dry, boring, pedantic or depressing. In fact we believe that good form and technique must be used to communicate issues of social importance more effectively.

Whenever possible, we work in partnership with the people whose lives, stories and experiences make the subject of our films. People are not reduced to passive objects of our filmmaking process. They participate in it with a sense of ownership, and get involved in conceptualizing its contents, writing the scripts, acting and making edit selections. In other words, we help communities use the documentary video as a media to articulate their resistance to structures of oppression, to communicate an alternative vision, to put forth their dreams and aspirations. We believe this process itself can be empowering, and therefore is as important as the end-product of any project we undertake.

We work to ensure the widest possible dissemination of our films. Through video screenings organized by NGOs and women’s groups amongst small communities, our films create a lateral networking of knowledge and ideas at the grassroots level. For example, through one of our films it becomes possible for rural women of Andhra Pradesh to share the experiences of their anti-liquor struggle with rural women elsewhere in India. To work with popular and accessible media such as video and theatre, to engage, inspire and reach out to rural, non-literate audiences…this is our commitment and priority.

We are a collective of individuals. Distinct in our creative identities and areas of concern, yet together in ideology, approach and spirit. Apart from production work in video, theatre and radio, we also undertake training and media planning for campaigns and events. Our future plans include an Outreach Cell, which will innovate ways to reach out to new audiences with films, theatre and other media in order to propagate values of social and gender justice in our society.

• Aftermath of the cyclone in Kutch
  15 min. English. 1999

  A cyclone hit Kutch district of Gujarat in May 1999, for the second time in 2 years. Contrary to popular perception, the overall loss is massive - 50,000 cattle and 9,000 houses. This film is a tool to draw attention and mobilize funds for rehabilitation, without which there are chances that some of the affected communities living on the margins would become destitute.

  Director: Stalin K.
  Producer: Drishti Media Collective
  Presenter: Kutch Navnirman Abhiyan
  VHS copies available from Drishti

• Aapno Avsar/ It’s our turn now!
  58 min. Gujarati, English, Hindi. 1999

  In November 1997, over a thousand elected panchayat women got together for 3 days in Ahmedabad - to share their experiences of power. While documenting this event, this film simultaneously explores the strengths of women’s governance, as well as the problems they face in moving from the private to the public domain. This event was organized by the Working Group for Women’s Issues-Gujarat (WGWI-G), a network of over 60 NGOs working on women’s issues at the grassroots.

  Director: Shabnam Virmani
  Producer: Drishti Media Collective
  Presenter: Mahila Swaraj Abhiyan (WGWI-G)
  VHS copies available from Mahila Swaraj Abhiyan, 65 Brahmin Mitra Mandal Society, opp. Jalaram Mandir, Paldi Railway Crossing, Ahmedabad, INDIA - 380 006.

• Patta Patta Akshar Hoga
  61 min. Hindi, English. 1999

  A film about the literacy campaign in Dumka, and how it has changed the lives of the people of this district in the Santhal Pargana region of south Bihar.

  Director: Stalin K.
  Producer: Drishti Media Collective
  Presenter: National Literacy Resource Centre, Mussoorie
  VHS copies available from Drishti and NLRC, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, INDIA - 248179. email: nlrc@lbsnaa.ernet.in

• Lesser Humans/Venth Chetha
  59 min. Gujarati, English. 1998

  50 years of Independence have not changed the lives of the Bhangis in Gujarat, who even today continue the profession prescribed to them by the caste system -- manually disposing human excreta. This film investigates the factors responsible for the continuance of this often banned inhuman practice.

  • Excellence Award, Earth Vision Film Festival, Tokyo, 1999
  • Best Film, New Delhi Film Festival, 1999
  • Silver Conch, 5th Mumbai International Film Festival, 1998
  • Special Mention, Amnesty International Film Festival, Amsterdam, 1998
  • San Francisco International Film Festival, 1998
  • Sakshi Film Festival, Bangalore, 1998
  • Prakriti Film Festival, Pune, 1999
  • Cinema du Reel, Paris, 1999
  • 14th Munich International Documentary Film Festival, April 1999
  • 1st International Human Rights Film Festival, Nurenberg, September 1999

  Director: Stalin K.
  Producer: Drishti Media Collective
  Presenter: Navsarjan Trust, Ahmedabad
  VHS copies available from Drishti.

• When Women Unite:The Story of an Uprising/Aadavallu Ekamaite
  80 min. Telugu, English, Hindi, Gujarati. 1996

  This film investigates one of the most extraordinary social uprisings of modern India -- a rural women’s uprising against state supply of liquor in Andhra Pradesh that sustained for three long years, eventually forcing the state government to declare Prohibition.

  • Grand Prize, 6th Tokyo Global Environmental Film Festival, 1997
  • Chingari Video Festival, Conference on South Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA, 1996
  • Margaret Mead International Film Festival, New York, USA, 1997
  • Margaret Mead Travelling Film and Video Festival, 1997-98
  • Film South Asia, Kathmandu, Nepal, 1997
  • 5th Mumbai International Film Festival, 1998
  • Sakshi Film Festival, Bangalore, 1998
  • Prakriti Film Festival, Pune, 1999
  • New Delhi Video Festival, 1999

  Director: Shabnam Virmani
  Producer: Drishti Media Collective & C-DIT
  VHS copies available from Drishti

• Gam Nathi Koi Panch nu/ The Self in Self-Rule
  58 min. Gujarati, English, Hindi. 1996

  In the context of the 73rd Amendment, reserving 33% panchayat seats for women, this film explores through a dramatic narrative the moral and ethical dilemmas that face a conscientious woman sarpanch, as she begins to negotiate the male-dominated, corrupt and self-serving world of politics. This is a motivational film that seeks to build a mandate for gender sensitive governance and the ideal of self-governance or Swaraj.

  Director: Stalin K.
  Producer: Drishti Media Collective
  Presenter: Drishti & Unnati
  VHS copies available from Drishti.

• Tu Zinda Hai!/ To Be Alive!
  50 min. Hindi, English. 1995.

  This film profiles the women activists of Ekta Parishad, a mass-based organization working in the villages of Madhya Pradesh. It explores their self-perception and changing identities as women in our society. It is a tribute to their spirit of struggle and their will to survive the backlash of the patriarchal structures whose authority they challenge - be they the abusive husband, the liquor don, the village landlord or the “sarkar” (government).

  • Awarded Best Film in the Society & Development Category, International Video Festival (IVFEST), Thiruvananthapuram, 1995
  • Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, Japan, 1997
  • Chingari Video Festival, Conference of South Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA, 1997
  • Film South Asia, Kathmandu, Nepal, 1997
  • Prakriti Film Festival, Hyderabad, 1997
  • Fribourg Film Festival, Switzerland, 1998

  Director: Shabnam Virmani
  Producer: Drishti Media Collective
  Presenter: Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA)
  VHS copies available from Drishti.

• Mein Adivasi/I am Tribal
  55 min. Bhilali (Hindi), English. 1997

  This film explores issues of identity with the tribals of Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh. It is about their re-constructing their collective history, regaining control over their natural resources and recovering their traditional knowledge systems… about their struggle to find a respectable space in modern society.

  Director: Nimmi Chauhan
  Producer: Drishti Media Collective
  Presenter: Ekta Parishad
  VHS copies available from Drishti

• Kalavar Mat/Triumph over Time
  42 min. Marathi, English. 1995.

  This film is located in the aftermath of the massive earthquake that devastated many villages of Maharashtra in 1994. The film discusses the reconstruction choices available to the earthquake victims, through the plays and songs of a travelling folk theatre group.

  Director: Stalin K.
  Producer: Drishti Media Collective
  Presenter: Society for Promotion of Area Resource Centre (SPARC)
  VHS copies available from SPARC, PO Box 9389, Mumbai, INDIA - 400 026.

• Ta Talati No Ta 30 min. Gujarati. 1994

  This film seeks to demystify for rural audiences the functions, powers and duties of a Talati-cum-mantri (Land Record Officer), who in many cases becomes a focal point of bureaucratic power and cause of distress to many. It highlights cases of individual and collective resistance to corrupt Talatis from different parts of Gujarat.

  Director: Stalin K.
  Producer: Drishti Media Collective
  VHS copies available from Drishti

• Jungle Amaru Tantra Tamaru
  42 min. Gujarati. 1994

  This film focuses on the violation of human rights of the tribals, their right over their forests and the importance of collectivization. Interweaving a street theatre format with documentary, it describes the functions, powers and duties of the Forest Department officials and also gives an understanding of the new Forest Bill.

  Director: Stalin K.
  Producer: Drishti Media Collective
  VHS copies available from Drishti

• Umati Umang ni Damri/Hopes Soaring High
  53 min. Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, English. 1994

  In an environment plagued by drought, debt, poverty and upper caste domination, this film chronicles the story of hope -- the story of the women of two villages in Gujarat who came together to form a savings group. These women themselves re-enact the story of their growth in this film, which is being used to inspire rural women around the concepts of savings, credit and collectivization. The women’s groups are supported from inception by Mahiti-Utthan.

  • Mumbai International Film Festival, Video Vista, 1996
  • Margaret Mead International Film Festival, New York, 1996
  • Margaret Mead Travelling Film Festival, USA, 1996-97

  Director: Shabnam Virmani
  Producer: Drishti Media Collective
  Presenter: Friends of Women World Banking (India)
  VHS copies available from FWWB, G-7, Sakar Bldg, Ashram Rd, Ahmedabad, INDIA - 380014

• Basti se Basti tak
  45 min. Hindi, English. 1993

  This is a video film for community organizing made collectively with and based on the experiences of Shakti Mahila Sangathan, a women’s group working in an urban slum called Millatnagar in Ahmedabad. The women have used the film as a medium to portray their understanding on health, basic amenities, domestic violence and savings.

  Director: Shabnam Virmani and Stalin K.
  Producer: DRISHTI Media Collective
  Presenter: Sanchetana
  VHS copies available from Sanchetana, New York Trade Center, Thaltej, Gandhinagar-Sarkhej Highway, Ahmedabad, INDIA - 380054

• Ek Potlun Beek Nu/ A Bundleful of Fear
  45 min. Gujarati, Hindi. 1992

  This is a dramatized narrative of 5 village women and their struggle for gender justice. It is about violence against women, the psychological effects of patriarchy and women‘s struggle to conquer fear. It was conceptualized and scripted with women field workers of Mahila Samakhya, Baroda, who had all experienced violence in their own lives or were involved in collective attempts to resist it. These very women have also acted in this film.

  Director: Shabnam Virmani & Stalin K.
  Producer: Drishti Media Collective
  VHS copies available from Drishti

• Stree, Kayda ane Nyaya Shreni
  Women, Law and Justice Series

  This is a set of four legal literacy booklets in Gujarati (in comic book format), which contain stories and information about various laws pertaining to women such as property, maintenance, bigamy and also information about their rights vis-à-vis the police and other legal procedures.

  Producer: Drishti Media Collective A set of 4 comic books available from Drishti

• Why did Kali die?/Kali Kem Mari?
  37 min. Gujarati, English. 1992.

  The death of a village women, Kali, triggers off a reflection process in the mind of a women health worker. In the course of the film she slowly understands the complex socio-cultural, economic and gender factors that result in the high incidence of maternal mortality, and through it an understanding of her own role as a field health worker.

  Director: Shabnam Virmani & Stalin K.
  Producer: Sewa-Rural, Jhagadia
  VHS copies available from SEWA-Rural, Jhagadia, Bharuch, Gujarat, INDIA- 393110

One of our Drishti members, Aditi Desai, received a fellowship from the MacArthur Foundation for two years to use theatre to raise women’s health issues amongst tribal communities of Gujarat in partnership with local NGOs. She experimented by adapting local folk forms with the theatre techniques of Augusto Boal, a Brazillian theatre director who conceived the Theatre of the Oppressed as a new methodology for theatre practice. This program was implemented in the tribal areas of Sabarkantha and later Panchmahals in Gujarat, and sought to train local artistes to form theatre troupes that would perform on development issues on a long-term basis in these areas.

Theatre training workshops with various activist and grassroots groups have been an ongoing activity of the Collective. Drishti members, Aditi Desai and Stalin K., have conducted theatre trainings for the following:

• Students of Centre for Development Communication, Gujarat University, and National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.
• Trainees of Centre for Environment Education, Ahmedabad, Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, Ahmedabad and Centre for Social Justice, Ahmedabad.
• School children of Kendriya Vidylaya, Ahmedabad.
• Tribal & rural women of grassroot organizations.
• Activists of Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan and Kutch Janvikas Ecology Cell, Kutch.
• Agricultural labourers organized by Disha, Himmatnagar.

• Read Flying with the Crane by Shabnam Virmani of Drishti.
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