AMBARIEN ALQADAR
FOUR WOMEN AND A ROOM
Documentary, 28 mins, India
Set against the complex social history of how abortions came to be legalized in India as population control imperatives rather than a pro-choice legislation, Four Women and a Room is a film about sex selective abortions, son preference and the misuse of reproductive technologies in India. It unfolds through fragmented associations of four women with the labor room and features prominent India theater actor and artist Padma Damodaran. The film also features leading Indian gynaecologist Dr. Puneet Bedi and feminist Nivedita Menon.
Credits: Director, Editor, Co-Producer
Awards and Screenings
Indian Documentary Producers Association Silver Award for Excellence, India 2009
Official Selection, Karachi International Film Festival, Pakistan, 2009
Official Selection, Indian Panorama Section, International Film Festival of India 2008
Official Selection, Mumbai International Film Festival 2010
Official Selection, Federation of Film Societies of India SIGNS 2008
Official Selection, International Documentary and Short Film Festival, Kerala 2009
Official Selection, Indo-Korea International Women’s Film Festival 2009
Official Selection, 9th International Social Communication Cinema, India 2009
Included in UNESCO package on gender training and sexual health distributed by The Public Service Broadcasting Trust, New Delhi
Television Broadcast
India National Television Broadcast 2008
“Striking experimentation with structure and form. Rare and incisive”
Madhusree Dutta, Mumbai based Filmmaker and Curator.
“The Narrowcast category had some excellent documentaries – ethnographical, anthropological, cultural, biographical, historical, investigative and developmental. One of the most outstanding among them was Four Women and a Room directed by Ambarien Alqadar that explores the complex ways in which women understand, approach and experience motherhood.”.
Shoma A. Chatterjee, Kolkatta, India based Film Scholar and Journalist, 9th International Social Communication Cinema, India
Crew:
Director, Editor: Ambarien Alqadar
Cinematographer: Shakeb Ahmed
Commissioned by: The Public Service Broadcasting Trust, India