WaterAid | Across the Tracks
Director & Producer
I proactively pitched the idea to the HSBC Water Programme to shoot a character-led story about the importance of safe sanitation for women at a time when toilets were ‘newsworthy’ in India due to Prime Minister Modi’s successful election campaign of ‘toilets for everyone’ under his Clean India initiative.
This project is a successful example of collaborating with a high profile corporate partnership to gather high quality content which could be packaged in a number of ways to reach different audiences.
It enabled WaterAid to strengthen its partnership by engaging a large audience at HSBC itself via its internal TV station, events and it’s successful YouTube channel. In addition it enabled production of longer edits which were successfully pitched to media outlets, film festivals and awards, enabling WaterAid to raise its profile and gain greater reach to new and diverse audiences.
The story
As the Clean India campaign gets underway, with its ambitious target of a toilet for every household by 2019, WaterAid explores how something as simple as a toilet can help transform lives by following the story of one ambitious mother in Uttar Pradesh.
Radha Verma, determined to protect her daughter after she narrowly escapes a physical attack, builds one of the first toilets in Rakhi Mandi slum, home to 3,500 people. Radha’s story shows that change is possible, even in a challenging urban environment, and that ultimately everyone, everywhere needs a safe place to go to the toilet.
Across the Tracks trailer
Director & producer | Catherine Rose
DOP & editor | Chris Turner
Second camera, photographer, longform editor | Isabelle Povey
Drone operator | Nikhil Thakkar
Composer | Benji Merrison
Translators | Alka Pande & Saumya Iwn
Features
Broadcast in India on Doordarshan (one of India’s largest TV stations) + 2 studio interviews with WA India and local partner staff (episode 1 - 2.35 million, episode 2 - 1.5 million)
Awards and festivals
Social Impact Media Awards (SIMA): Impact video category, February 2016
Open City Doc Fest: Nominated for Best UK short 2015
Aesthetica Short Film Festival, November 2015
TVE Global Sustainability Film Awards: Winner community investment and best overall film, November 2015
We The People’s Film Festival: Winner best development film, November 2015
Woodpecker Film Festival – Delhi – September 2015
Rankin/Hunger TV & Docheads short film competition 2015 shortlist, February 2015
Screenings
Sidcot Arts Centre – Bristol – January 2016
The Shit Show – New York – November 2015
Canary Wharf big summer screen – London – August 2015
Bristol big screen – Millennium Square – July 2015
Rakhi Mandi community screening - July 2015
Docheads – London – April 2015
International Women’s Day screening and womens events - HSBC
“The film has been very useful to us as a communication and advocacy tool as a short but impactful introduction to our work. While the link between toilets and women’s safety that the film touches upon is still topic of debate in India and something we try to avoid highlighting, the cinematic approach of the film and its story of hope and change is very effective in capturing viewer’s attention. WaterAid India North team has been using the film during planning meetings with district officials in Uttar Pradesh to seek their attention on the issue.”
WaterAid India team, 2015