Educational Media Reviews Online

The United States and particularly New York City are inhabited by people of multiple ethnicity and backgrounds. For females of South Asian descent who immigrated to the United States from the countries of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, their home countries are not known to be welcoming to female education or learning. Usually upon coming to this country, these women find employment within their ethnic communities as domestic workers, however their experiences is not always positive as these women face varying degrees of domestic abuse from their employers.

The focus of this DVD examines how a number of women within this specific group, overcame their negative experiences of being exploited and how they united within a community group known as Andolan. Because of their shared experiences, eight of these woman were given the opportunity to perform in a theatrical play that was filmed about their common experiences with motivational empowerment language being emphasized and interpreted.

The women profiled come from multi-lingual backgrounds and though they have limited English, their desires for American freedom and equality are felt. There are subtitles as well as special features included with this film and interested viewers can see the entire stage show filmed.

This documentary is a good addition for public libraries serving the appropriate population as well as for academic collections supporting courses in women studies, sociology, gender studies and Asian studies. The reason this film is recommended with reservations is because of the black and white depiction of the women’s experiences. There is barely any mention of repercussions from past employers and as well as any legal issues that have been positively enacted upon. A trailer of this documentary is available on the film's website.