Optimistic Daredevils for Social Change

By Kaleigh Gaynor

The filmmakers and stars of the ITVS-funded documentary The Revolutionary Optimists were models for social change at TEDxChange and the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, where they introduced Map Your World, the new transmedia project inspired by the film.

A short piece from the film was created for TEDxChange, an event co-hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and TED in Berlin on April 5, 2012, where participants were encouraged to apply new perspectives to pre-existing big picture issues. The short, introduced by Melinda Gates, showcased the evolution of Map Your World, a cross-platform project inspired by the documentary.

The Revolutionary Optimists follows “The Daredevils,” a group of youths in one of India’s most notorious squatter’s colonies, who have made a dramatic improvement in the health of their community, a place that cannot even be found on a map of the region. Determined to make a geographic and meaningful map of their colony, the Daredevils have been painstakingly tracking and collecting data around health issues that impact them – water, sanitation, and infectious diseases. In 10 years, they have made dramatic improvements in their area: They’ve turned a trash dump into a soccer field, lobbied for electricity, and decreased diarrhea and malaria rates in their neighborhood. › Continue reading

Tags: India, Map Your World, Maren Grainger-Monsen, Nicole Newnham, Salim, Sikha, Skoll World Forum, TEDxChange, the revolutionary optimists

CNN Nominates a Hero from Independent Lens

Anuradha Koirla is one of the nominees in CNN’s Top Ten Heroes of 2010.

Filmmaker Andrew Levine, whose Emmy-nominated film The Day My God Died aired on Independent Lens in 2004, updates BTB on one of the subjects of his documentary.

One of the primary subjects of my film The Day My God Died has been nominated as one of CNN’s Top Ten Heroes of 2010. Anuradha Koirla, founder of Maiti Nepal, is one of the foremost activists working to abolish sex trafficking in Nepal and India.  Maiti Nepal’s main mission is to provide prevention, housing, medical care, counseling, and vocational training to survivors of the sex trade.
› Continue reading

Tags: cnn, heroes, Independent Lens, India, the day my god died

Meet the Real Slumdogs on NatGeo

A scene from The Real Slumdogs directed by Steve Baker

The Real Slumdogs, airing tonight at 8 PM on the National Geographic Channel, examines what it’s like to live in Asia’s largest slum.

Directed by Steve Baker, the film takes place in Dharavi, Mumbai — which was also the setting for the Academy Award-winning film Slumdog Millionaire.

Much more than a slum, this mini-city bustles with industry, culture, and dreams. The Real Slumdogs, an ITVS International film, aims to show the true faces of Dharavi by talking to the people who live and work everyday of their lives in the slum and struggle to survive in a community that defies expectations.

You’ve seen the Hollywood version; now meet the real slumdogs.

Learn more about the broadcast by visiting the National Geographic website >>

Tags: documentary, India, ITVS, Mumbai, National Geographic, PBS, slumdog, Slumdog Millionaire

Kashmir: An Explosive Eden

The ever-embattled territory of Kashmir in the Himalayas is again in the news, as representatives from Amnesty International arrived there this week to investigate reports of human rights abuses lodged against both Indian and Pakistani combatants. In the 21 years since the Muslim insurgency against Indian rule in the region erupted, between 50,000 and 100,000 people have been killed.

Coincidentally, Project Kashmir premieres on Independent Lens tonight (check local listings). In this beautiful and cogent new show, producers Geeta Patel and Senain Kheshgi sneak their cameras into Kashmir to observe the secretive and anxious lives of the region’s inhabitants, and to look for clues to what started the conflict — which could become nuclear at any time — and how religious and national allegiances can seemingly immunize people to their own most human instincts for survival.

The filmmakers’ journey is especially moving when they find themselves pulled in separate directions by their own divergent ethnicities. Patel — an Indian American Hindu, and Kheshgi — a Pakistani American Muslim find their own friendship eroding as they begin personally identifying with opposite sides of the struggle.

Catch the film tonight on PBS, and watch this exclusive behind-the-scenes footage for a glimpse into this beautiful and deadly region >>

Tags: hindu, India, kashmir, Muslim, Pakistan

Independent Lens on PBS’s COVE

Interested in watching full-length episodes of Independent Lens and your other favorite PBS series online? Look no further—PBS recently launched its new video player: COVE (Comprehensive Online Video Ecosystem).

Like the iTunes’ interface, COVE allows users to flip through content horizontally across the screen in a series of stacked images.

The player also features a search engine that locates material by topic or program title; “most watched” and “most emailed” video links at the bottom of the screen; and buttons for sharing and e-mailing videos or buying copies on DVD.

Select full-length episodes of Independent Lens will be available the day after broadcast for seven days. Other program-related video––such as trailers and video extras––will also be available.

JOURNALS OF A WILY SCHOOL, which looks at the life of a young pickpocket in Kolkata, India, is currently available.

Visit COVE this Wednesday to watch POWER PATHS, which depicts the struggle Native American tribes and their allies face in producing solar and wind energy.

Watch Independent Lens and other PBS series on COVE >>

Tags: film resources, independent film, India, online video

JOURNALS OF A WILY SCHOOL Premiering Tonight on Independent Lens

“An especially colorful episode of Independent Lens travels to Kolkata, India––a city teeming with pickpockets––to present a portrait of a young thief every bit as engaging as Charles Dickens’ Artful Dodger.”
- The Week

Forget Slumdog Millionaire––here’s the real-life story of survival on the streets of India. Follow Azad, a young pickpocket, who pushes his limits only to get caught by the police. In an effort to crack down on more serious crime, the police offer Azad a full pardon. But there’s a catch––he must turn in his fellow grifters. Will he collaborate or risk it all for life on the streets?

JOURNALS OF A WILY SCHOOL premieres tonight, Oct. 27, at 10:00 PM on Independent Lens on PBS (check local listings).

Tags: India, pickpocket, Slumdog Millionaire, urban life

Watch INDIAN SCHOOL Tonight on Link TV

India is one of the fastest growing and most culturally diverse countries in the world, where new technologies form an increasingly vital part of the economy alongside simple farming, religion and cricket. INDIAN SCHOOL follows a remarkable year at two very different private schools and takes a look at the world of India’s rising generation.

Check out the clip below:

INDIAN SCHOOL premieres today on Link TV at 4:30 PM (check local listings). This film received ITVS International funding.

Tags: education, India, technology

Community Cinema Screening of LAKSHMI & ME in Chicago

Community Cinema hosted a screening of the Independent Lens film LAKSHMI & ME this past weekend at the Chicago Cultural Center. The film gives an intimate look at the relationship between an employer and servant in India and the ingrained social and cultural attitudes that govern their lives. Regional Outreach Coordinator Naomi Walker gives an overview of the event.

A large crowd gathers at the Chicago Cultural Center.

Speakers Anuja Mehta and Dr. Tarini Bedi discuss the Community Cinema screening of LAKSHMI & ME with Regional Outreach Coordinator Naomi Walker.

A huge crowd packed the Chicago Cultural Center to sit in a dark theater on a beautiful sunny day to watch the Community Cinema screening of LAKSHMI & ME and participate in a lively discussion. In one word: Miraculous!

Guest speakers included: Dr. Tarini Bedi, associate director of the South Asia language and area center and the committee on Southern Asian Studies at the University of Chicago; and Anuja Mehta, coordinator of transitional housing and case manager for Apna Ghar, Inc., a domestic violence shelter for Asian women.

Dr. Bedi and Ms. Mehta gave their initial impressions and thoughts about the film. Mehta went deeper by giving background information on abuse of domestic workers and gave an overview of the types of difficulties South Asian immigrants face in the United States. Many of these women have a hard time dealing with domestic violence and family members often do not come forward to get help she explained.

Dr. Bedi got many questions from audience members looking for a better understanding of the caste system, its history and the different sub-castes and class differences in India. While the issue is very complicated, Dr. Bedi cleared up some common misunderstandings about caste.

› Continue reading

Tags: caste system, Chicago, India

In the News: The Latest on ITVS Programs

Blogger Scott Kirsner discusses his new book Fans, Friends & Followers: Building an Audience and a Creative Career in the Digital Age and his work with ITVS that helped inspire it.
Read more >>

“In her remarkable documentary, LAKSHMI AND ME, airing as part of PBS’ Independent Lens this month, Jain proposes to ‘cross a line,’ to film her employee.”
Read full review >>

“MILKING THE RHINO deals with Africans’ inceptive efforts to bring sustainable conservation to parts of the continent in ways that, in pointed contrast to the continent’s history of exploitation by colonial powers…”
Read full review >>

Tags: Africa, India, Scott Kirsner

Watch LAKSHMI AND ME Tonight on Independent Lens

Have you ever dreamed of being waited on hand and foot? For the past six years, Lakshmi has been doing just that for her employers––virtually unnoticed. That is, until one of Lakshmi’s employers begins to film her daily life on the job in Mumbai, India. In a deeply personal portrait, the film takes a hard look at the Indian caste system, gender and class relations.

“… A rich, twisty, quietly shocking portrait of a life lived in veritable slavery–where Lakshmi’s gender doesn’t trap her, her place in the caste system does–and the rare sort of soul that somehow manages to flourish under such restrictions,” The Seattle Stranger.

Check out the clip below:

LAKSHMI AND ME premieres tonight at 10:00 PM on Independent Lens on PBS (check local listings).

Tags: caste system, India, online video