About Nasbandi

Today, 1 in 3 women in India uses sterilization as her primary method of birth control. Sterilization is a drastic, arguably coercive practice, which the Indian government has historically relied upon to curtail its staggering population growth.

Nasbandi is a feature-length documentary exploring India’s complex relationship with female sterilization. Through the narrative of a community of mothers in rural Maharashtra, Nasbandi reveals the effect India's controversial and arguably coercive family planning policies - combined with the pressure from family members, health workers, and the community - have on women seeking birth control in India.

The film is an immersive, highly personal glimpse into the lives of Indian women positioned at the turbulent nexus of technology, government policy, and reproductive rights. In them we see so many other women - in India and in our own countries - who also have tenuous control over their bodies and choices.

This film is in many ways an extension of a short documentary we produced back in 2014, also entitled “Nasbandi”. New changes in government policy have given us a renewed sense of purpose to go back and film more of this unfolding story, and to make sure this underreported topic gets the attention it deserves. But first, we need your help.

What We Need

The contributions gained through Indiegogo will allow us to fly to India, start filming and support our production process. We’ve done the research, have potential subjects lined up, and have partner organizations -- at this point, we just need to physically be in India to get this project off the ground. Specifically, we need $15,000 which will go towards equipment rental, flights to India, transportation within the country, cost of living, and hiring a translator and crew. This money will not cover our post-production costs, but will allow us to get footage that will in turn make us stronger candidates for film grants down the line. We are also already in communication with a number of foundations who are interested in supporting the film, but would like to see some footage. This first $15,000 will get us there. 

About the Filmmakers (Zoe & Annie)

We first teamed up back in 2014 to produce our previous short documentary about reproductive rights. We met after we had both been living in India for a year, bonding over our passion for telling women’s stories and our obsession with podcasts. Shortly after finishing the film, we founded Goat Tree Productions, a film production company committed to examining complex social issues through innovative storytelling.

Annie is a freelance documentary producer / editor, living in Brooklyn. Her latest short film, “Chromat: Body Electric,” screened at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival.

Zoe  is a researcher based in London. She’s worked on a variety of social justice research and writing projects. Last year, she furthered her studies through a masters at the London School of Economics.

What's in it for you

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a feature length documentary about a critical global topic from the very beginning. Our goal is for this film to be used as a tool for social justice, and to ultimately have an impact on India’s family planning policy. By hosting screenings with policy makers, NGO workers, activists, students and the people most affected by the policies we can inspire inclusive discussions and work together to create a reproductive health system founded on agency and choice. YOU can be a part of helping enact this change by contributing. By contributing, this is also an opportunity to gain an exclusive and intimate glimpse into the filmmaking process itself, through screenings, access to footage, etc. We want to make this an exciting and engaging process for everyone who supports us or who is passionate about reproductive rights issues. This will be an important film, but also a beautifully crafted film, pushing the boundaries of today’s documentary filmmaking practices.  

Perks

To thank you for your generous contributions, we are offering a number of exciting perks, featured on the side of this page. Check them out! 

If you don’t feel that you can donate, we encourage you to share this campaign through social media -- just spreading the word can make a huge difference.

Thank you!  //  Shukriyaa!