Leslee Udwin in conversation with Lorimer Shehner and Niki Sharma
Date/Time: Jul 15 2016, 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Vancouver, SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the ArtsCost: $15.00
Find tickets: here
Four years ago a young medical student was gang-raped and left for dead on the side of a road in Delhi. Systemic and horrific violence against women is a major problem in India (as it is in almost every part of the world, Canada included) but something about this incident particularly outraged Indian society. Protests rocked the capital city and spread to the rest of India and indeed, to the rest of the world. It was in this climate that London-based filmmaker and producer Leslee Udwin attempted to tell the story of a woman the media was beginning to call “India’s daughter.” The resulting documentary, India’s Daughter is described by Tina Brown as “a shocking and powerful film. It moves, it confounds and infuriates but above all it inspires. It persuades the world with an eloquent plea, at a time when gender equality is at last on the global agenda.”
Meryl Streep announced that she would besupporting the film for an Oscar nomination and it won the prestigious Peabody award in April 2016. At the same time, the film had an equal number of detractors – the Government of India banned the release of the film in India and many activists within India expressed concern with Udwin’s approach. What is undeniable is that the film stirred a fresh, healthy outrage against patriarchal systems. Niki Sharma speaks to Leslee Udwin in a rare Vancouver appearance about her film, the debate it provoked and her role as an artist who is driving social change.
The evening features special guest Lorimer Shenher whose riveting and award- winning memoir ‘That Lonely Section of Hell: The Botched Investigation of a Serial Killer Who Almost Got Away’ details how families of missing and murdered women in the Downtown Eastside were let down by police agencies and Crown counsel as Canada’s worst serial killer remained at large for years. A former newspaper reporter, Shenher joined the Vancouver Police Department and was the first detective assigned to the missing women investigation. Shenher will respond to Udwin’s work and speak to our nation’s failure to recognize and respond to the crisis that is Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in Canada.
Please note: the event will be more meaningful for those who have watched Leslee Udwin’s film ‘India’s Daughter’ which is available on Netflix Canada.
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