14 minutes | Hindi with English subtitles | 2024

Nikita Parikh

Alsana lives in a small, chaotic neighbourhood in Ahmedabad, cut off from the rest of the city by an 85 acre landfill on one side and a highway on the other. Her family, like many others, moved here after the 2002 riots in search of safety and security. The area was a jungle, with no electricity or roads. Now, houses bump up against each other competing for space. In a place like this, a room of one’s own is hard to come by, but Alsana has a corner. Only her rules apply here. The corner takes on different forms - each an expression of her inner life, at odds with the world. Meanwhile, Alsana’s drawings show signs of the society seeping in, as she grapples with her identity and conflicts closer to home.

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International Documentary and Short Film Festival, Kerala

​National Documentary Short Film Festival, Thrissur

Dharamshala International Film Festival
Beyond Borders Feminist Film Festival, Delhi

Bulbul Children's International Film Festival, Goa

IAWRT Asian Women’s Film Festival, Delhi

Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles

Habitat Film Festival, Delhi

Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival

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Nikita Parikh came to filmmaking through working with children.

She traveled to classrooms across the country making videos for

Teach for India, an NGO which works in government and low-income

private schools. During her Master’s degree in Education at the

Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, she started researching

and using participatory media with teenagers. She is driven by

creating films which promote understanding, empathy and change.

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Director: Nikita Parikh

Executive Producer: Aastha Singh

Cinematographer: Suraj Katra

Editor: Dhritiman Das

Sound Designer: Ninad Lad

Online Artist: Dhanik Dhende

Animation Team: Akansha Sur, Aishwarya Chaudhari, Neerav Doshi

Poster and Illustration: Mohd. Intiyaz

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