Thursday, October 25th
6-8pm
The Azure Lounge in Manhattan, NY

Industry Spotlight returns with a screening of Meghna Damani’s award-winning short, “Hearts Suspended.”

We will be sharing how a woman used film as a medium to expose a troubling situation and bring relief to herself and others. “Hearts Suspended” is a short autobiographical documentary that brings to light the troubled world of thousands of immigrant women in the United States on dependent spouse (H4) visas. Well-educated and once financially independent, these women are in the country legally but are unable to work, resulting in loneliness, depression, identity crisis, strained marital relations, and in extreme cases, exploitation and abuse.

“Hearts Suspended” has traveled festivals and universities around the world, aired on National TV in India, been featured on NPR’s ‘Here and Now’ show, POV’s “To The Contrary,” CUNY TV and in the Washington Post.

Following the screening, the AsAmFilmLab will provide light refreshments as writer, director Meghna Damani discusses her personal struggles, how she found film as the medium with which to expose her plight and how her efforts, combined with social media outreach, have given an impetus to this once unspoken issue resulting in more affected women speaking up in the South Asian community. Meghna will talk about how this issue also affects a large number of women from China, Southeast Asia and some parts of Europe.

Also joining us: guest speaker, Maneesha Kelkar, an activist, advocate, educator and trainer, who in her most recent job as Executive Director of Manavi (a South Asian domestic violence organization based in NJ) who has worked extensively with women on the dependent visas. Maneesha recently presented an analysis of the restrictive H4 visa structure in her recent work “South Asian Immigration in the United States: A Gendered Perspective”, published by the Asian American Policy Review of the Harvard Kennedy School.

Due to the intimate nature and limited space at this event, RSVPs are absolutely required. Please RSVP to IndustrySpotlight@film-lab.org. Please bring a drink or dish to share or a suggested donation of $3-5. Make sure to include your guest’s name when RSVP-ing. Photo IDs will be requested by security at the venue during check in. We look forward to seeing you!

RSVPs to Perry Tsao at IndustrySpotlight@film-lab.org are required as space is limited and filling up fast so RSVP now! We will have refreshments and an intimate talk-back (along with our signature raffle) following the screening.

For more info, please visit www.prlog.org.

Please also visit the Facebook page
www.Facebook.com/AAFilmLab.