Adult literacy in spotlight at Women’s Film Festival

By Shreya Dattatraya Chougule

“Women should be educated to literate,” highlighted Nepalese writer and filmmaker Shuvangi Khadka on the 3^rd day of 18^th Asian Women’s Film Festival.

Shuvangi Khadka’s documentary film “Mother’s School”, which was screened at the festival, deals with the topic of adult literacy and education. Talking about the theme and setting of the film, Khadka said, “The school in the film is the one my mother studied at as an adult. I wanted to document it after I had a conversation with her during the lockdown.”

The film narrates the story of three women studying at a school for adults in Kathmandu. It highlighted the circumstances and problems that the women went through and their zeal to study.

“When we contacted the school, there were some who did not want to be on screen. Then there were some who enthusiastically told us their stories,” said Khadka, about the characters featured in the film.

“I wanted to portray the distinction between literacy and education. While there are temporary classes for adults. I wanted the focus to be the women who are trying to get educated get certificates,” said Khadka while talking about the adult literacy classes in Nepal and how the women are striving for education.

Khadka highlighted the responsibility that falls on one’s shoulders while filming a documentary like hers. “Even if we are making a documentary, we need to understand that they are real people and their stories are also real. You can’t force them to act a certain way just for the film in the name of sympathy. You have to let it be natural.”

Khadka also highlighted the presence of women in the entertainment industry in Nepal. “While there are independent women filmmakers, women filmmakers in mainstream media are considerably less.” She also mentioned that despite this she sees hope in the industry. “There were challenges through out. From budget limitations to not knowing much about the technical aspect as first-time filmmakers proved to be challenging. There was also a point where I believed the movie was cluttered due to so many characters,” said Khadka about the difficulties she faced as a first-time filmmaker.

Khadka went on to discuss her shift from a writer to a filmmaker. “I am actually a writer. I only started to get interested in visuals during the lockdown and thought maybe I could do something in films.” She shared how her experience as a writer assisted her in structuring the film. She also highlighted her interest in writing for women and feminism.

Bennett University’s Times School of Media is a key partner in the 18^th IAWRT Asian Film Festival. Its students are playing an important role as volunteers and rapporteurs.

(The writer is a Semester II student of BA (Journalism and Mass Communication) programme.)