Edmonton International Film Festival Coverage 2008

Film: The Forgotten Woman

Director: Dilip Mehta

Writer/Producer: Deepa Mehta

Studio: Mongrel Media

Screening Date: 4:30 p.m., Sunday, September 28th

Film Length: 90 mins.

Reviewed By: Xanthe Couture (Edmonton Correspondent – Canada)

Deepa Mehta's is easily regarded as one of Canada's premiere filmmakers. Her empowering and courageous films, such as the epic trilogy Fire, Earth, and Water explore the lines that divide personal choice and the burden of preserving tradition, bringing them to the forefront of our social conscience.

The passion for showing the reality of repressive societal conditions runs in the family. Deepa Mehta's brother, Dilip Mehta, was the Director of The Forgotten Woman.

The film can be considered a companion film to the struggles depicted in Deepha Mehta's Water, but unlike her feature film, which was set in the 1930s, the atrocities against these women are real and are occurring today.

The Forgotten Woman follows the Mehtas as they document the widows of India who, after having their property seized by their families, are then abandoned. Without any support and many without any education are quickly penniless and alone.

The problem is of epidemic proportions. A reported 20 million widows are living a life of destitution, yet the practice is an excepted societal norm that exists in Indian culture and continues to go largely unnoticed or addressed.

The documentary weaves through the run down ashrams of Vrindivan, a holy city and home of Lord Krishna, where large numbers of widows go to beg and survive on handouts of food.

Widows are also found awaiting their death in Varanasi, where they will be cremated.

Although charities exist and money is donated from the public, managers of the temples that provide food and shelter keep a large part of the donations instead of dividing them amongst the widows. There are little or no efforts to increase the quality of living for the widows.

When locals are asked throughout the film about the state of the widows, it is a problem that everyone has resigned to except as a part of the cycle of life. Old views that it is not socially acceptable for widows to remarry remain heavily ingrained in the minds of locals.

Some donate to the charities, but most believe that it is simply the fact that you cannot "give the same flower twice", as one representative of a holy man states with confidence.

One individual who is trying to do something about the situation is a Canadian woman name Ginny Shrivastava, who in some strange twist of fate is also a widow herself. Having started a women's group that makes efforts to redress unfair land grabs by the families of widows among other unfair practices,

Shrivastava also hopes that her efforts will slowly undo the negative views of widows. She also empowers them by helping them become active members of society rather then merely supplying food handouts.

The Forgotten Woman's disheartening subject matter is alleviated by the stunning cinematography, with captivating shots of India's natural beauty and the beauty of the people.

Although the social problem of the disregard for a whole segment of the population will take years to overcome, the Mehta’s message is one of a subtle hope.

The negativity of the situation is constantly outweighed by the simple grace of the world in which these atrocities occur. The film ends on the positive story of an Indian woman who is still being cared for by her loving family. Her positivity and sense of humour reinforce the theme that despite the horrible actions that humans can commit, we are also capable of an indelible spirit of joy.