Capture Stories of Resilient Indian Women & Win Up to Rs 6 Lakh in This Filmmaking Contest

Are you an aspiring filmmaker? The Better India and LICHFL present Womentaries: Her Story, Your Lens -- a contest where you can showcase your talents and capture the stories and voices of inspiring women leading change.

By Sowmya Mani

July 3, 2023

This article was published in partnership with LICHFL.

After the Partition of India, Sarla Ahuja migrated from Sindh (Pakistan) to Rajasthan. Married at the age of 16, she recalls that she hated the monotony of household chores.

Sarla, who had only studied till Class 10, had one skillset she could rely on — the lessons from her mother on stitching. So in 1974, at the age of 18, she decided to build on her entrepreneurial spark and launched an apparel manufacturing business with just Rs 5,000. That company today is Shahi Exports, which today is among the nation’s largest apparel manufacturing businesses, and clocks an annual revenue of Rs 8,000. Her company works with large retailers across the world, from Nike to Walmart, H&M and Zara, in North America, Europe, and Australia.

And that’s not all. What differentiates Sarla’s company is her steadfast commitment to empower women. Her organisation employs 70,000 women and teaches them soft skills through a programme called Personal Advancement and Career Enhancement (PACE).

Look around you, and you will find several such Sarlas. In some way or another, we’ve all been witness to women’s incredible strength and resilience, and how that can go a long way in encouraging other women, the way Sarla did.

It’s time to highlight the stories of inspiring women around us.

This is where The Better India and LICHFL step in with ‘LICHFL Womentaries — Her Story, Your Lens’. The contest calls upon aspiring documentary filmmakers to explore and showcase stories of women across India who have created a deep impact in the lives of others by emboldening them.

LIC Womentaries documentary filmmaking contest — Highlight stories of inspiring women through LICHFL’s documentary filmmaking contest

Amplify the voices of these wonder women by registering for this contest, which has total prizes up to Rs 6 lakh.

Who can apply?

Anyone with a keen interest in filmmaking can apply. The programme requires no professional experience — all you need to have is a passion for storytelling through filmmaking.

“The contest invites young, aspiring filmmakers to capture the stories of women who have made a difference in other’s lives through their initiatives, actions or ideas,” said Y Viswanatha Gowd, managing director & CEO, LICHFL.

What you need to do

If you’re interested, you can register here by giving us a brief description of the story and the impact that your protagonist has created in her community.

You can shoot the video using either a DSLR or your phone. The final film must be of high resolution and must meet the requirements.

You will have 20 days to shoot and deliver your documentaries after the masterclass.

A crash course in filmmaking

Capture stories of inspiring women & win up to Rs 6 lakh

After a panel from The Better India and LICHFL assess the entries, a Masterclass will be conducted online for 50 shortlisted participants. A filmmaker who has worked on over 100 documentaries will be conducting this class. The participants will be taught the necessary skills to effectively convey their story in 2-5 minutes.

This class will be held before the shoot for the films begins.

What’s the reward?

The cash prizes for the documentary filmmaking contest are distributed as follows:

First Prize: Rs. 3 lakh
Second Prize: Rs. 2 lakh
Third Prize: Rs. 1 lakh.

The prize money will be split equally between the filmmaker and protagonist.

The documentaries of the top 10 finalists will be screened live in Mumbai.

Apply here: http://bit.ly/3JCNZwZ

Last date for registration: 10 July, 2023

To know more about this contest, https://campaign.thebetterindia.com/womentaries/#

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