An academic joint production between the Department of Media Sciences at Anna University of Chennai, India and IHS, the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies from The Netherlands, received the best documentary award for 2022 at the Amity International Film Festival.
About the documentary
We Too Urban Women, a 40-minute film, was funded by the DAIDA Foundation from The Netherlands. The documentary was filmed during the research project called 'Communication for Development: Interventions in urban resettlement to improve livelihood outcomes for poor women' ran by IHS staff Dr Maartje van Eerd and Dr Alonso Ayala in partnership with IHS alumni at Anna University.
The documentary explains the gender dimensions of urban resettlement projects in India. As affordable housing for the urban poor is a global challenge, large-scale resettlement projects on the outskirts of cities are seen as a viable solution for countering housing poverty. This documentary shows the stories of urban resettled women who depend on the city for their livelihood. When resettlement sites are situated far away from the city, women face multidimensional problems, including loss of employment, social assets, and healthcare access, to name a few. These stories of women represent gender blindness in the implementation of resettlement projects. They stress the need for inclusive urban development initiatives by asserting that these poor women need the city, and the city needs them too.
About the film festival
The Amity International Film Festival was organized around the main theme of 'The Promethean Space' between 15-16 December 2022. More than 200 films and documentaries from more than 20 countries were shortlisted and screened, including USA, UK, Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Kazakhstan and Turkey.
Curious about the documentary? Take a look at the trailer!
