WHO ARE WE AND WHAT DO WE DO IN THE LARGE PICTURE?
Hers is Ours is a Collective that works on the issue of Violence Against Women (VAW), and gender discrimination at large. We focus on creating awareness on healing and empowerment through art.
Our Collective is based in Agra, India, but we intend to expand our work internationally; as VAW is a global social & systematic issue. We work on grass-root level change: 1) making art projects 2) raising awareness & opening debates, 3) deconstructing norms & stereotypes.
WHAT ARE WE WORKING ON & CROWDFUNDING FOR CURRENTLY?
The first project of our Collective is the documentary Our Odyssey is Red, based on the lives of the Krantikaris (revolutionaries in Hindi), a group of daughters of sex workers from Kranti, a Mumbai based NGO. Kranti offers these girls and young women a space to deal with their traumas and stigmatisation against them, such that they've become leaders of social change.
What is the documentary about? 20 women walk down the Camino de Santiago, an 800 km long pilgrimage, which they complete over 35 days. The film takes you on a journey of the lives of these women, how they transformed themselves from being (once) a victim and a marginalized, to being in control of their lives and agents of change. It takes you to how they've come to peace with their lives; while also taking you on a visual journey of the European landscapes.
As we walked with the Krantikaris, this film is also about women coming together and seeking inner and collective growth. It unfolds step by step the different levels on which we all connected: spirituality, art and politics.
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THE KRANTIKARIS' STORY:
Since sex working is being used and rejected by society, sex workers as well as their daughters mainly get pity but hardly respect. Though, beyond their difficult childhood environment and the sexual abuses they suffered from, the Krantikaris choose to be themselves over being limited to the mere status of “victim” or “survivor”. They denounce and lift the shame over what they have been through, but also where they come from.
Kranti school, at the Krantikaris' shelter home, Mumbai
The girls, mainly Dalit (the untouchable caste) and Muslim – i.e. the two most marginalised communities in India –, had been denied in their access to education or work opportunities; hence, Kranti aims at giving them the chance to use their whole potential and to become whoever they want to. The Kantikaris live in Santacruz West in Mumbai, a place which they have turned into a warm and cosy home, from where they receive an innovative and ludic way of learning, and constant support. Via Kranti, not only do the girls get education (from the Kranti school, but also within India or abroad thanks to scholarships), receive therapy, get the chance to travel, to meditate and practice yoga or any spiritual path they believe in, but they also lead workshops as well as direct and perform plays.
Lal Batti Express, theatre performance directed and played by the Krantikaris
As they were invited to perform in Europe last summer, they decided to go on the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage, a journey to connect with themselves, realise their strengths and limitations; as individuals but as a group too. Hence, sharing this intense experience with them led us to understand the feeling of unity. 20 of us walking every day and pushing our boundaries while respecting our needs, led to a reflection towards how to make peace with ourselves and consequently with others.
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We filmed the pilgrimage in Europe over June and July 2019 and went back to India in autumn to shoot at their shelter home in Mumbai. We plan on having the documentary edited by the end of the summer 2020 and then, will aim film festivals, universities, schools and other platforms where we could screen our film, and use it as a tool to raise awareness on the stigma over girls and women of red lights areas.
OUR STORY:
The story of this project is about women from different cultures and backgrounds coming together. It all started when I met Robin Chaurasiya, the co-founder of Kranti empowering girls from the red light district. Having left my home country (France) and just arrived in India to work on Human Rights reports in some organization, my plans took quickly another direction. Robin awakened that longing to do something concrete, something meaningful to me. It is then that the first glimpse of this project was born and which since, grew as much as I did. The urge for denouncing gender-based violence and the need to remain hopeful for change, led me to choose film-making to touch people and their perspective. Plus, stirred and inspired by the path of women such as those from Kranti, it is this that I wanted to share.
This was only the beginning of a very enriching journey. Other activists came across, and this is how I met the artist Neha Chaturvedi who believed in this project which therefore, took a drastic turn. In May 2019, a series of documentaries "From Violence Against Women to Healing through Art" was decided of which the first subject would be Kranti, who was back then performing in Europe. Neha introduced me to another artist working on the place of women, Ayushi Shriramwar. Together, we acted on a driven impulse and went to follow Kranti in Europe.
This is how Ayushi, I as well as the cinematographer Nina Defontaine (who got to hear about our last minute shooting trip, and willing to be in charge of filming), all met in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France, to walk with Kranti on the way to Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
The co-founders of Hers Is Ours are:
Naomi Jahan, a young women’s rights activist from France, interested in ground level actions. With a background in Public International Law and Human Rights, she researched on gender stereotypes as the core of discrimination. She finds in art a bridge between legal vocabulary and social awareness.
Neha Chaturvedi, a multidisciplinary artist from India, with an educational background in literature. She is a co-founder of the transdisciplinary collaborative space “UP80” in Agra (where we live and work among other artists), and her work experience spills across several media, including cinema. She has an integral healing relationship with art practice, as a form of expression and transformation.
WHY DOES OUR PROJECT MATTER?
What is at stake is how women are represented on a daily basis in cinema, literature, advertisements, newspapers, etc. Such (mis)representations shape the vision of men over women, of women over women. It influences us to look at gender, at sexuality and at each other with a certain gaze. It leads to assuming how a woman should behave, it makes exclusion acceptable and violence justified, by the need to guide or protect a woman.
What we want to bring here are simply reflections and awareness on stereotypes, and also inspiration from different stories, experiences and perspectives. By bringing forth disruptive stories, we want to challenge people’s prejudices and the most basic assumptions.
And at last, it is about how everyone can make a change by simply perceiving things differently; and this different perception is what we want to offer through cinema and art. We want the audience to feel that if these women could act, if our collective can act, so can they.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
Being in the post-production phase of our documentary Our Odyssey is Red, we are now looking for funds in order to cover the expenses related to film-making. There is no too little help. It is thanks to the little and bigger stones put together by our team of passionate film-makers and activists that our project has gone that far. Know that a donation of 10 euros is covering the cost of 1 hour of editing, so every support truly matters. And we added some great perks in return to your support, check them out below! Your support can also take the form of spreading the word, sharing our trailer, or opening a conversation on gender equality!
And if you are curious or interested in getting involved, feel free to contact us via [email protected] or through WhatsApp: +918923907518
Follow our project on social media:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hers.is.ours
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hers.is.ours
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9LKkwP_UBBFfNOmC...
Here is our trailer:
Our Odyssey is Red is a project by Hers Is Ours and the first concretisation of larger ambitions.
