students' program I

Ko Aung Zay Yar, a Muslim, and his wife Ma Tin Tin Maw, a former Bud­dhist turned Muslim, have called the Ayeyarwady fish­ing vil­lage of Nga Pote Thin their home … read more

Despite the pain and restric­tion inflict­ed by foot bind­ing, Chi­nese women incor­po­rat­ed its cor­re­spond­ing prac­tices into their every­day lives. Small feet and beau­ti­ful shoes were a source of pride. Craft­ing … read more

Three women living in Uttar Pradesh, India, are bound by the rules of patri­archy within their vil­lage. They work hard during the day while eager­ly await­ing the evening, which brings with it the oppor­tu­ni­ty to step out and tem­porar­i­ly escape into a world of their own imag­i­na­tion. Through walks around the vil­lage out­skirts, pass­ing farms, streams, and rail­way tracks, the film­mak­er fol­lows them with the aim of explor­ing the free­dom of expres­sion these women exhib­it in both pri­vate and public spheres. She takes a simple yet effec­tive approach by join­ing them on an evening stroll, turn­ing what should be ordi­nary into joyful moments shared by three friends and one of their daugh­ters — who is also the filmmaker.

Payal Chauhan, orig­i­nal­ly from a vil­lage in Uttar Pradesh, India, is cur­rent­ly a stu­dent of Film and Video Com­mu­ni­ca­tion at the Nation­al Insti­tute of Design in Ahmed­abad, India. She strong­ly believes in the power of sto­ry­telling and self-expres­sion; as a result, her film projects are deeply per­son­al, often inspired by her own expe­ri­ences and focused on women, chil­dren, and spaces.