Still I Rise aims to restore dignity and rights to survivors of sex trafficking. West Bengal has one of the world’s highest rates of sex trafficking because of porous borders with Nepal and Bangladesh, high unemployment and poverty. Most often girls are trafficked by local people they trust, who promise them a better life, wages and more freedom. The trauma does not end when they are rescued, with many girls stigmatised by police and shelter home staff. At home, survivors face physical violence, isolation, stigma, shame and guilt, perpetuated by their own family members and neighbours. Still I Rise champions positive role models who support the girls’ reintegration with their communities.
Terre des hommes Foundation and their partners will host community film screenings of the film and facilitate discussions around stigmatisation in West Bengal. In addition to the development of the film, our crowdfunding campaign enabled the purchase of a portable projector and screen to make these screenings possible. We would like to express our deepest appreciation to all of the donors and volunteers who contributed. This film was only made possible with your generosity and support.
This film is a creative collaboration between writer/director Jeni Lee and Terre des hommes in India. The 2d animation was created by Ghost animation, an inspiring collective of animators, artists and filmmakers based in Kolkata. Acclaimed musician and composer, Dr Rajeeb Chakraborty composed the music for the short film. Rajeeb's sensitivity to the material has resulted in a beautiful composition for the film that truly takes the viewer on a journey. Sound design was completed by Tom Heuzenroeder, whose attention to detail is just awesome. Sieh Mchawala shot the highly cinematic live footage for the film, and a cast of untrained actors bought the story to life. A heartfelt thank you to: Gayathri Govindarajan, Gitanjali Ravikumar, Sakshi Talati, Shweta Trivedi and Bhakti Vanik who featured in the survivors scene, Pradip Thomas for playing the uncle, Ameya Deshmukh who played the brother and Debashis Sarker who played Baba. A very special thank you to Swastika Samanta who volunteered as the lead actor, voice over artist and translator. Jodie Lea Martire provided script editing, along with Kyra Marwaha, and Paulami de Sarkar at Tdh in India.
Please feel free to share this short film among your networks, every share will assist us to promote positive gender models in West Bengal and worldwide.
