Hosa Belaku (2018)
Articulating Women: Interrogating Intersectionality and Empowering Women Through Critical Engagements is an AHRC funded International Networking Project that has involved four partner institutions: Liverpool Hope University, Christ University (Bengaluru), FACT (Liverpool), and Bluecoat (Liverpool). This partnership has hosted four international symposia, a film programme, a leadership workshop, creative workshops for children and university students, and film competitions. An Artist in residence at Bluecoat (from Bengaluru) was appointed as part of the project, expanding involvement internationally. Three films have been produced; others are currently in development as are a training manual on teaching gender equality and a volume of essays on Intersectionality in a Global perspective.
Hosa Belaku (7 min., India, 2018, dir: Nirmal Thomas) won a student film competition sponsored by Articulating Women. Hosa Belaku, which means “New Dawn” in the Kannada language, came about when, in 2018, Thomas worked as an intern for Re[View], an initiative associated with the Foundation to Aid Industrial Recovery (FAIR). Hosa Belaku, the subject of Thomas’s film, helped to train three groups of remote rural women, including those with disabilities, enabling them to earn a livelihood through hand crafted items prepared with recycled materials. Hosa Belaku’s projects were designed to build self-confidence and financial independence. The film has since won many laurels.