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Journalism of Courage
AHMEDABAD, April 21: On the occasion of 25 years of its existence, the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) conducted a day-long festival of 10 films made by Video SEWA.
Video SEWA, an initiative that had started 14 years back, has produced a group of women who do not necessarily know how to read or write but can handle a video camera with dexterity, edit footage, and write scripts that have made a difference. The festival was inaugurated by Minister for Education Anandiben Patel.
The 21 trained women, who are either vegetable vendors, block-printers, on daily labourers have not just made films but also won awards at the UN conference at Beijing and have had screenings at festivals in Paris and Germany. Films that have inspired multitudes to become part of the larger social movement like I am Shakti, Teen Karore Kahan Hain and A Journey from Rs 7 to Rs 40,000 just reinforced the success of these films as a developement tool.
“This body has come of age. From these stories where women have taken courage and taken to leadership have inspired many,” said Mirai Chatterjee, general secretary, SEWA.
For the 21 trained women, it has been an exercise in demystification of technolgy: “I did not know how to read. Now I can produce a whole film on my own,” said Leela Datania, one of the pioneers of the programme, who was originally a vegetable vendor at Manek Chowk.
The subjects are varied, from smokeless chulhas and organising the unorganised sector in dairy technology. “These films have helped lateral learning between women in the city and the rural areas who have been able to learn from each others experience,” said Chatterjee.
They have been able to spur the authorities into action: a film on the condition of agarias (salt workers) has resulted in a study and will be used for policy makers. Financially it has become sound with 70 per cent of it being self-sufficient. Their films have been commissioned by prestigious organisations like the ILO, SBI and NGOs like Urmul.
The festival will be travelling to villages around the city next month in a bid to mobilise, empower and organise many more women.
