Event Details

Documentary Film Screenings    

An NCPA Presentation in collaboration with Cinema Collective

The Reality Check film series promotes and encourages documentary filmmakers in India, whose work reflects life and culture in the country today in a provocative blend of creativity and integrity.  

 Kicking Balls
English Film (37 mins)

Each year, 12 million girls are married before the age of 18. That is 23 girls every minute. 

In three small villages in Rajasthan, a non-profit organisation is trying to change this. Two hundred teenaged girls are being regularly trained in football. What sets them apart is that almost all of them are child brides. The film explores their sisterhood and journey. Football has given them the confidence, independence and agency to stand up to patriarchy and say no to child marriages. Many have fought to get their marriages annulled. Some have staunchly refused to go to the husband’s home. What the future holds for these little girls, nobody knows. But for now, they are in charge, they are confident and they love kicking balls. 

Writer & Director: Vijayeta Kumar   
Producers: Guneet Monga, Ashvini Yardi & Achin Jain  
Cinematography: Priyanka Singh  
Editor: Irene Dhar Malik 
Music Director: Alokananda Dasgupta
Sound Design: Pritam Das
Sound Recordist: Neethu Sudha Mohandas & Deepoka Jadhav 

Maida 
Bhojpuri/ Hindi Film with English Subtitles (19 mins)  

In a country where the Goddess of knowledge is a female deity called Saraswati, only 42 of the 100 girls enrolled in class one reach class five and only one reaches class twelve. 

Maida (white flour) is a living documentary film shot over a span of eight years. It explores the societal norms of dowry, child marriage and the prevalent practice of school dropouts after the onset of menstruation. Maida traces the dreams and aspirations of a young schoolgirl in an Indian village in Bihar. Through her stories and Bhojpuri folk songs, she breaks the myth of women empowerment, as we know it. Such incidents go unreported for lack of courage to face societal consequences. Documentaries are mirrors of society. All laws, covenants and policies fail at the implementation level and girl children still continue to get exploited without a voice of their own. Girl children are not even aware of their own rights to defend themselves. This documentary is for all voiceless girl children who deserve their stories to be told without fear. 

Director: Lubna Yusuf
Producer: La Films, Humara Movie
Actors: Ujjala & others

The Firefox Guardian
English, Nepali Film (14 mins) 

In a tiny village in Nepal, a woman steps up as an unconventional warrior to change the unfortunate fate of the red pandas in her community forest. This film takes you on a mesmerising journey with the first female forest guardian, through remote bamboo jungles, scaling the mighty Himalayan wilderness into the hidden world of red pandas. 

Director: Gunjan Menon
Producers: Gunjan Menon, Shekhar Menon, Peter Venn, Jason Cooper, Michael Farrell & Saiyam Wakchaure
Screenwriter: Gunjan Menon
Cinematographer: Gunjan Menon & Daryl Fernandes
Editor: Gunjan Menon
Music Director: Emma Butterworth 

The film screenings will be followed by a discussion.   

Admission on a first-come-first-served basis. NCPA Members will get preferential seating till 6.20 pm.