Documentary Screening: “The World Before Her”

The In Camera committee held a documentary screening on Thursday, 19th January 2017 at 6.30 pm. It was hosted by Ravi & Amita Sheth at their office and was followed by cocktails and dinner. The Rotarians met at 6.30 p.m. and the film screening was of 1 ½ hour followed by a Q & A session.

The documentary ‘The World Before Her’ is written, directed and produced by Nisha Pahuja. She is an Emmynominated filmmaker based in Toronto and Bombay. The documentary is a multi-award winning production about women’s rights in India (Awarded – Best Documentary Feature, Tribeca Film Festival 2012; Best Canadian Documentary, Hot Docs 2012). It has been screened at over 130 film festivals world-wide and was nominated for an Emmy. The documentary was also part of Sundance’s Film Forward program.

A synopsis of the movie:

In the lobby of a modest Bombay hotel, 20 young women from across India arrive for an intense, month-long beauty boot camp. They are the hand-picked contestants for the Miss India pageant, 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.

But as the popularity of pageants has exploded, so have the controversies surrounding them. The World Before Her sweeps back the curtain to reveal the intimate stories of young women determined to win the crown and the forces that oppose them.

The World Before Her creates a lively, provocative portrait of the world’s largest democracy at a critical transitional moment. These young women may represent opposing extremes but in their hearts they share a common dream: to help shape the future of India as she meets the world before her.