Leaving home

Streaming video - 2011

Leaving home is what most of us do -- eventually. It's different for Renu. Will she fulfill her dreams of leaving her village home to become a teacher in the big city? Most of India's 1.2 billion people live in villages. This documentary is about one of these villages, 100 miles north of Delhi, with prime focus on Renu and her coming-of-age. Leaving Home is about rural life, castes, marriage, weddings, family, motherhood, fatherhood--and change. And, as it develops, it is a film about women's rights. As the film unfolds, many may be shocked by the restrictions on rights for teenage girls and women in the village. All of this is normal -- and is documented in our new film--as we see Renu's coming of age in a way of life t...hat many in other cultures consider to be one step up from slavery. American anthropologist J. Michael Mahar has been intermittently living in the village for over a half-century. Our guide and colorful and revealing story teller, he has seen the village move from the 18th to the 20th century before his eyes. He arranged our unusual access to those we filmed. Nishu Varma, a journalist who is also our interpreter, talks with women with no men in hearing distance. Her revealing conversations about sex, abuse, dowry and other traditions has never before been in a film about India. more