Under the Open Sky
“Citizenship of a city is a visceral thing... For women to truly claim citizenship, we must be able to claim public spaces with our bodies, by writing our claim everyday through our movements.”
- Why Loiter? Women and Risk on Mumbai Streets (2011)
What changes when a girls' football initiative begins to claim open public spaces to play in Mumbra, a far-flung suburb in the Mumbai Metropolitan region? Quite a lot actually!
For women and girls occupying open public space in the city to play is an act of feminist claim staking. This film follows the Parcham women's football team as they play and coach a younger generation of girls, in the process transforming not just the way they see themselves and their bodies but potentially transforming the way we see our cities.
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Shilpa PhadkeDirector
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Nikhil TitusDirector
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Faiz UllahDirector
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School of Media and Cultural Studies & MurthyNayak FoundationProducer
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Project Title (Original Language):खुले आसमान के नीचे
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Project Type:Documentary
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Genres:Sports, Gender, City, Muslims, Identity, Space
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Runtime:35 minutes 14 seconds
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Completion Date:November 30, 2016
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Production Budget:2,000 USD
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Country of Origin:India
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Country of Filming:India
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Language:English, Hindi, Urdu
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
Distribution Information
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School of Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, IndiaCountry: WorldwideRights: All Rights
Shilpa Phadke trained as a sociologist and teaches at the School of Media and Cultural Studies, TISS, Mumbai. She is co-author of Why Loiter? Women and Risk on Mumbai Streets. Her areas of interest include: gender, public spaces, cities, feminist pedagogy, feminist mothering, young women's relationship with feminism and more recently digital spaces and feminism. She loves the chaotic city of Mumbai and fantasizes that it will one day have a very large park.
Faiz Ullah works with the School of Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences. His work is largely concerned with the political economy of media, work and labour, and participatory cultures.
Nikhil Titus is a PhD student in Film Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. He has been involved in documentary production and his research interests include low-cost film exhibition spaces and audiences, migration and urban infrastructure, 'B' grade and minor cinemas and stardom.
Under the Open Sky is a collaborative effort between us and the amazing Parcham collective - a bunch of extremely motivated and political young women - who are asserting their claims on the city and its resources in unique ways. We hope that this film will amplify their voices, give their work the visibility it richly deserves, and inspire other young women to reclaim public spaces around them and have fun!