CBPS organised a film screening for the media titled ‘Conversation Among Equals: A Film Screening’ on 27 February 2018 at St. Marks Hotel, Bengaluru. Conversation Among Equals was a screening of 10 short films about the Mahila Samakhya programme in Bihar and Karnataka. The films are part of a larger research study conducted by CBPS with fund support from IDRC, Canada titled Together We Can: Assessing the Impact of Women’s Action Groups on Social Change in India. The three-year study on Mahila Samakhya evaluated the programme’s impact on women’s economic empowerment in two Indian states: Bihar and Karnataka.
The Mahila Samakhya programme is one of the world’s largest government programmes to empower women. The programme focuses on education and collective action for women’s equality. More than 1.2 million women from 45,000 villages in 11 Indian states were part of this programme.
The short films showcase the lived realities of Mahila Samakhya women and the transformative effect of the programme. Some of the clips focus on themes of political participation of women, the creation of Nari Adalat (women’s court) and health awareness while other clips are narratives of women breaking stereotypes by questioning gender norms and power structures.
The short clips can be viewed here.