The Woman with a Movie Camera:
Shalini Kantayya, Director of A Drop of Life and Founder of 7th Empire Media
Interview by Alissa Bohling
Set in the near future, A Drop of Life tells the brief but memorable story of two women, a village teacher in rural India and an African American corporate executive, whose disparate lives intersect when they are both confronted with lack of access to clean drinking water.
World Pulse: As a grassroots artist-activist, how do you ensure that your message retains its integrity as your work enters mainstream media?
Shalini Kantayya: That's an interesting question... I believe I maintain integrity in my work by continuing to draw from real life people and their stories. Although I do aim to make big budget commercial films, I also stay very true to the documentary tradition by doing a great deal of research. And much of my information comes straight to me from grassroots activists doing work on the ground.
WP: While your direct approach powerfully delivers your message, it also leaves the film open to accusations of "heavy-handedness." Was A Drop of Life meant as a head-on indictment of water privatization? How do you weigh the aesthetic risks you take as an artist against the desire to reach a critical mass with your activism?
SK: When you tell one story, people often mistake it for the story. A Drop of Life is based on a true story of a prepaid water meter scheme that caused tremendous destruction within the community. I wouldn't venture to say that I know exactly what the right place is, what the right way is to get people access to water. Who's to say? I don't think I tell an anti-privatization story in my film. My goal is simply to make people think critically and to raise awareness about what is happening.
WP: Although you initially thought that the film's prepaid, privately-owned water meters were something you had dreamed up—you quickly found that such meters already exist in several countries. Did the discovery that your invented fiction was already a living truth change your approach to making the film?
SK: Yes. After I thought of the prepaid water meter, I interviewed with Maude Barlow from the Council of Canadians, founders of the Blue Planet Project, an international organization promoting the human right to water.
Much of my information comes straight to me from grassroots activists doing work on the ground.
Maude told me a story from Orange Farm, South Africa: After the initial offer of a certain amount of free water per family, residents had to pay to use the meter. Soon, no one could afford the prepaid water. Their only choice was to go to a second source that wasn't clean. As a result 5000 people died of cholera. She told me of officials who came to visit and show off the benefits of the meter. They were confronted by an angry child who had made the connection between his mother dying of cholera and the prepaid water meter. "You killed my mother! You killed my mother!" he screamed at them.
WP: American corporate water executive Nia travels to the village conspicuously escorted by an entourage that includes several Indian urbanites. What influenced the crafting of this scene?
SK: I wanted focus on the people who would accompany a corporation: members of the World Bank would be there; state officials would be there. Have a look at how language is used in the film: the villagers are speaking Kutchi and the officials are speaking Gujarati, the state dialect. Meanwhile the meter speaks in Hindi, the national dialect. The whole experience is alienating to the village people because it takes place in the political language of the country.
WP: Nandita Das' character, Mira Ben, is a city-educated "outsider" who teaches in the small Indian village where much of the film is set. Why did you choose this particular identity for her?
SK: The decision was motivated by tension. . . Mira reminded me of a lot of people who come from an urban environment and want to do something good for a community. They'll always carry with them the tension of outsiders wanting to help.
I also find the dynamic between men and women in that village interesting; though Mira is an outsider, she operates within the gender dynamics of this Indian village.
During the shooting of the film the men had to give us permission to film the women. The women agreed and we moved into the village. I was living there, preparing to shoot the film. Then at the last minute, the men would not give their permission. So in the end, the women in the film are not actually from that village, but from a small town nearby.
WP: What changes do you envision in the world of filmmaking as more women choose to pursue careers as directors?
A Drop of Life is now used by 40 water rights organizations in the African Water Network, in Malaysia, in the Philippines and in India.
SK: Only eight percent of Hollywood directors are women; Of those, less than one percent are women of color. When there are more women's voices in film, we will see a very different kind of story. I'm extremely excited about that possibility.
Women have so much transformational potential within the media! When our democracy is compromised by the homogeneity with corporate media; when one company can determine so much of what we see... from the theatres to everything we read at a store. The voices of dissent—the women's voices—play a more important role than ever in advancing democratic media.
WP: Have you begun to measure the impact of the film? What results do you hope to see develop from your work?
SK: What I'm most proud of is that A Drop of Life is now used by 40 water rights organizations in the African Water Network, in Malaysia, in the Philippines and in India, where ironically there was no water meter when I made the film but the meter was subsequently introduced. The film has won many awards, and it is frequently shown in schools and on campuses to raise awareness. I'm also currently working on a feature film about water.
WP: What advice do you offer to girls and women aspiring to be filmmakers?
SK: Only do it if you feel called to do it, because it's hard. It takes such hard work, long hours and plenty of midnight oil. But if you have to do it, then never give up... creating work is not about not making mistakes, it's about continuing to get back up and continuing to be diligent, to be relentless in your passion for the art.
Filmmaker, educator, activist and reality show survivor Shalini Kantayya lives in Brooklyn, NY. Her work has received the recognition of the Jerome Foundation, the Public Fund for Media, IFP, NY Women in Film & Television and film festivals across the globe. To reach her, email kshalini@riseup.net.
Alissa Bohling is a journalism student and editorial intern at World Pulse.
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