Hot Docs 2008

Internationally renowned as a photographer, Dilip Mehta was working as the production designer on Water, his sister's Oscar-nominated feature about widows in 1930s India, when he learned that 40 million women lived in the same conditions today. Appalled, he felt compelled to make this powerful documentary that testifies to the contemporary realities behind the historical fiction. The film opens in the ancient temple city of Vrindavan with striking images of thousands of widows living in poverty. It then travels to rural villages to hear from women beginning to organize for their rights and to New Delhi to listen to war widows. In a country in which sophisticated urban lifestyles and ancient rural traditions co-exist, Mehta understands the power of light and composition to tell a story and brings his photographer's eye to every frame of this film. Although he claims no overt political agenda, the stories and images he captures raise a powerful call for change.
-Lynne Fernie

Co-presented with Filmi - South Asian Film Festival.