The World Before Her
NOTICE: Currently only available in SD.
SPECIAL NOTE: ***You can help get this critical film to India by supporting their Kickstarter campaign! kck.st/1cAGpKW Your backing will make sure it's seen and talked about far and wide--schools, cinemas, cities and villages across the country will see it for the first time. You CAN make a difference to women's rights in India!***
About the film:
The Miss India pageant is the ultimate glamour event in a country that has gone mad for beauty contests. Winning the coveted title means instant stardom, a lucrative career path and, for some girls, freedom from the constraints of a patriarchal society. Through dramatic verite action and unprecedented behind-the-scenes access, THE WORLD BEFORE HER sweeps back the curtain to reveal the intimate stories of twenty young women determined to win the crown.
As the beauty contestants move through beauty boot camp, Director Nicha Pahuja travels to another corner of India to visit a different camp for young girls, the women's wing of the militant fundamentalist movement. Through lectures and physical combat training, these girls learn what it means to be good Hindu women and how to fight against Islam, Christianity and the onslaught of Western culture.
Moving between the transformative action in both camps and the characters' private lives, THE WORLD BEFORE HER delivers a provocative portrait of India and its current cultural conflicts durind a key transitional era in the country's modern history.
“Riveting...”—New York Times
“It's a definite must watch...”—Huffington Post
Official Selection TRIBECA Film Festival
Official Selection HOTDOCS Film Festival
4 Comments
Hats off
a must watch!
Awesome!
A superb glimpse at the precarious role of women in India today, which upon closer examination is a reflection of the condition of women everywhere. Through the perspectives of the women and men interviewed, we get a sense of how difficult it is to strike the right balance between freedom of expression and social expectations, and see clearly how the treatment of women today is both a symptom and a cause of the violence we see in the world around us.