I create documentary films about people, issues and events to educate, inspire and inform.
Previous work
Photo by Dave Adair
I have made a film Anandwan: Forest of Joy, about Anandwan in Maharashtra, Central India.
Anandwan is an inspiring community which was founded in 1949 by renowned social activist, Baba Amte, for people with leprosy. Anandwan has pioneered the medical treatment and rehabilitation of leprosy patients.
Today Anandwan is home to 3,500 residents. These include leprosy patients and their families, visually and hearing impaired children who receive an education there, people with other physical disabilities, as well as volunteers who have dedicated their lives to the community.
Anandwan empowers each individual to live a productive and full life, and as a result is almost self sufficient in food and services. Residents are taught practical skills to contribute towards the community and earn a livelihood. Anandwan welcomes people from all over India who have been rejected by their societies and restores their dignity and self-respect.
This film tells the remarkable and moving personal stories of people whose lives have been transformed by Anandwan. To watch the film Forest of Joy (Part 1 and Part 2) please see below.
Cataract Eye Surgery Camp
While I was researching and filming at Anandwan (December 2012/January 2013), I also had the privilege to interview and film eye surgeon, Dr Tatyarao Lahane, who holds the world record for performing 100,000 cataract operations. Dr Lahane and his assistant, Dr Ragini Parekh, coordinate an annual eye camp at Anandwan free of charge, which enables thousands of people who would otherwise not be able to afford the operation to regain their sight.
Anandwan is an inspiring community which was founded in 1949 by renowned social activist, Baba Amte, for people with leprosy. Anandwan has pioneered the medical treatment and rehabilitation of leprosy patients.
Today Anandwan is home to 3,500 residents. These include leprosy patients and their families, visually and hearing impaired children who receive an education there, people with other physical disabilities, as well as volunteers who have dedicated their lives to the community.
Anandwan empowers each individual to live a productive and full life, and as a result is almost self sufficient in food and services. Residents are taught practical skills to contribute towards the community and earn a livelihood. Anandwan welcomes people from all over India who have been rejected by their societies and restores their dignity and self-respect.
This film tells the remarkable and moving personal stories of people whose lives have been transformed by Anandwan. To watch the film Forest of Joy (Part 1 and Part 2) please see below.
Cataract Eye Surgery Camp
While I was researching and filming at Anandwan (December 2012/January 2013), I also had the privilege to interview and film eye surgeon, Dr Tatyarao Lahane, who holds the world record for performing 100,000 cataract operations. Dr Lahane and his assistant, Dr Ragini Parekh, coordinate an annual eye camp at Anandwan free of charge, which enables thousands of people who would otherwise not be able to afford the operation to regain their sight.
Photo by Dave Adair
Forest of Joy
Commissioned by Women for Women International, this film celebrates the Join Me on the Bridge Campaign in London on International Women's Day March 8, 2012. Join Me on the Bridge took place on almost 200 bridges in 57 countries. In London, hundreds of women and men marched from the Millennium Bridge to the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre in solidarity and support for equal rights, justice and freedom for women around the world. The march culminated at the Southbank Centre with the launch of WOW - the Women of the World Festival.
Women, War and Letters: In May 2011, I went to Sarajevo, Bosnia to film Farida Musanovic, a piano teacher and activist who kept her music school open throughout the Siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s so that her community would continue to have music. In collaboration with Women for Women International and the Bosniak Institute I made a film about how Women for Women International first began. Click on the following link http://www.womenforwomen.org.uk/events-supporting-women/bosnia-peace-march.php to the Women for Women International website to view the film. Or to view the trailer, please see below.
TRAILER: Farida Musanovic from Sarajevo, Bosnia tells the story about how Women for Women International first began.
The Space Between Us TRAILER: This film is about women’s peace organisations in Bosnia, Israel and Palestine, and Northern Ireland, that were established during the height of conflict and war in their countries, and is based on the book The Space Between Us by writer and activist Cynthia Cockburn.
Commissioned by Women for Women International to celebrate the Centenary of International Women’s Day March 3, 2011 and the Join Me On The Bridge Campaign.
Commissioned by Women for Women International as part of the Literary Bridge campaign, I filmed women writers and activists speak about what 100 years of women’s rights means to them, including author Fatima Bhutto, and founder of Women for Women International Zainab Salbi among others,
Fatima Bhutto
Zainab Salbi
Further projects
I created a film for Pathways of Women's Empowerment focussing on the question 'What does empowerment mean to you?' consisting of interviews with more than 50 activists and academics at the AWID Association of Women in Development Conference in Istanbul, Turkey, April 2012. Pathways of Women's Empowerment is an international research and communications programme that links academics with activists and practitioners to find out what works to enhance women’s empowerment. During the last five years Pathways has been involved in more than fifty research projects in Latin America, the Middle East, South Asia and West Africa.
In collaboration with UScreen and Newhaven Foyer I facilitated a group of young people who are residents at the Newhaven Foyer aged between 16-25 to make a documentary film. The film features an in-depth interview with one resident about how he came to be living in the Foyer and aims to break down stereotypes about young people who are homeless. The film is being used as an outreach tool for other young people who need somewhere to live and for them to learn about how the Foyer can support them. Newhaven Foyer is a supported accommodation project, managed by the Salvation Army Housing Association. Newhaven Foyer provides temporary accommodation for young people and access to permanent move-on accommodation.
In partnership with the Institute of Development Studies IDS, I created a biographical film about social anthropologist and activist, Rosalind Eyben.