Gender Lens

Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media

Rashmi is the India Council Lead of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (GDI), the only research-based organization working within the media and entertainment industry to engage, educate, and influence the need to dramatically improve gender balance and reduce stereotyping.

An active associate of the Institute since 2014, Rashmi initiated and developed the first Global Symposium on Gender in Media to be held by GDI outside the US in Mumbai in 2016. The Symposium was held to present the path breaking 'GDI Inclusion Quotient' Tool.at the first edition of the FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry) FLO Film Festival themed on women empowerment and gender sensitivity, spearheaded by Rashmi as the Festival Director.

Reflecting India: An intersectional and longitudinal analysis of popular scripted television

As India Council Chair, Rashmi represented the Geena Davis Institute, alongside the Google Research Team at the Indian Advertising Association ‘Voice of Change’ Summit to reveal a trailblazing AI enabled Study.

The goal of this report is to analyze the evolution of representation of gender, age, skin tone, and their intersections in scripted television in India. The novelty is in leveraging artificial intelligence advances in computer vision and natural language processing to analyze human-centric representation in media in a first-of-its-kind, large scale, multi-lingual examination of longitudinal trends across 5 Indian languages.

With Google’s machine learning innovations, the researchers analyzed 1,188 episodes, which included: 430 hours of footage; 15 million frames; 38 million face tracks and 1.8 million words

Lights, Camera and Time for Action: Recasting Gender Equality Compliant Hindi Cinema

Rashmi has been the Project Lead for Engagement and Advocacy on a vital Research Study conducted by the reputed School of Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai (SMCS-TISS) through a grant from the US Consulate in Mumbai.

The in-depth, frame-by-frame, quantitative and qualitative analysis covered high revenue grossing Hindi films, as well as films made by women or with a focus on women and examines questions of gender in Hindi films, both on and off-screen. The aim is to share the findings, build conversations and develop gender equality guidelines to ensure inclusive representation on screen and gender responsive, on-site institutional arrangements and facilities for women.

During the two year research project, Rashmi created awareness and outreach through shared interim findings of the study at marquee film festivals like Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, International Film Festival of India, Goa; Pune International Film Festival; International Association of Women in Radio and Television Film Festival, New Delhi; and the India Film Project, Mumbai.

Rashmi orchestrated the Final Report Release in July 2023 at a high profile event attended by Vidya Balan and leading film celebrities along with representatives from the Indian film industry associations, media and other film professionals.

The digital report is available on the website:
https://gendercinema.tiss.edu/
https://gendercinema.tiss.edu/digitalreport/

Coverage by BBC
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-66153598

Video Links:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16Ew5GYYHimpxc-z9kiWnejHYnZ_0tkJ4/view?usp=share_link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vCgc4vCoTk

Samabhav Travelling Film Festival

Rashmi is on the Advisory Board, curates and moderates for the unique ‘Samabhav Travelling Film Festival’ organised by MAVA (Men Against Violence and Abuse) on gender sensitivity and intersectionality awareness, held in colleges and universities across urban and rural India.

Through the 5 editions of SamaBhav, MAVA has reached out to over 12,500 young adults in universities and colleges, civil societies, corporates in 43 cities and 14 rural districts. The festival has also traveled to Kathmandu, Jakarta, Thimphu and Dhaka, making its mark in South Asia.

At each venue, about 15 shorts, documentaries and feature films are screened over two days, covering a wide range of issues including gender-based discrimination, violence against women, homophobia, transphobia, toxic masculinity, breaking gender binaries. Every screening is followed by stimulating discussions with the young adults and students and as a Moderator and Curator, Rashmi has travelled with the Festival to cities like Varanasi, Tezpur, where deep rooted traditional attitudes and patriarchal values are put to test and the young audiences are encouraged to bring about a paradigm shift in their perceptions about gender parity.

Samabhav Travelling Film Festival 2023

A Dissemination Meet was held at Dosti House, US Consulate, BKC, Mumbai on the impact and outreach of the 5th Samabhav Travelling Film Festival. Rashmi moderated an engaging session with Prof. Shakuntala Mahanta (IIT Guwahati), Lavanya Soman (Director, SStraight Circles Foundation) and Swapnil Shete (Filmmaker) about their participation and impressions on the importance of this unique Festival. 

Samabhav Travelling Film Festival 2022

The 4th edition was inaugurated on 3rd – 4th February 2022 in Tezpur University, Assam.

Samabhav Travelling Film Festival 2019 – 2020


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Samabhav Travelling Film Festival
Recap – 2019


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Samabhav Travelling Film Festival 2020 – Virtual Dissemination Meet

MAVA (Men Against Violence & Abuse) - Film Workshops

‘Natkhat’ - Film Screening & Panel

Moderated discussion with:
Actress & Producer: Vidya Balan
Director: Shan Vyas
Writer & Co-Director: Annukampa Harsh
Associate Producer: Sanaya Irani Zohrabi

‘Maanush’ Mentees Workshop – ‘Reel To Real’

Hindi Cinema & Gender Violence: Reel to Real

Documentaries

Begumpura (The Wives Colony) a documentary film scripted, directed and produced by Rashmi deals with the social and psychological implications of South Asian fractured families where the women and children live alone in Toronto as the husbands continue to work in better job prospects in the UAE. However, many of the women find independence and realise their own self-worth as they come out of the traditional male shadow and learn to cope on their own. They use their time alone well to better their professional and personal skills.

Projects in development:

‘Conversations Matter’ features a remarkable set of men from India and North America, who explore deep-rooted, suffocating prejudices and corrosive mindsets about stereotypical male and female roles across global cultures and societies. In the process, they open up gender-perspective debate through stories, incidents, real-life cases and redefine masculinity into a sensitive and gender-just state-of-being. The objective of this docu-feature is to highlight the impact and difference made by these dynamic Indian and Global protagonists and create Role Models for others to follow, to imbibe their passion and vision and make the change happen, despite all odds and societal hindrances.  

‘Devis, Damsels and Divas’ is an incisive documentary that puts the spotlight on gender representation in Bollywood and correlates the impact of misogyny and patriarchy in reel and real life. Even as many Hindi Films reinforce and reflect regressive ideas around the role of women in Indian society, Bollywood has shown that it can also be a powerful platform for change. This documentary endeavours to be a clarion call for the creation of roles and stories that better reflect the contemporary, educated and empowered Indian women.

Mentorship

Aspire For Her

Aspire For Her is a start-up powered by extraordinary women leaders as mentors and role models. The mission is to unleash the trillion-dollar opportunity in India by adding 5% to India’s GDP by 2025, by helping women join and stay in the workforce.

Rashmi is onboard as a Mentor for the ‘Film & Media Vertical’ and the ‘#NotAlone’ initiative

Session for AFH Mentees in the 1st InFocus Series

HopeWorks Foundation

The motto of HopeWorks foundation is "Nurture Hope, Nourish Dreams".

The first project i-Grow (Girls Rising over the world) aims to empower and enable girls to cherish themselves and dream of a future, that is uniquely their own. This is made possible by creating an ecosystem of caring mentors and role models for young girls, especially those who come from social and economic disadvantage, to interact and learn.

Featured on a Podcast by Naveen Samala on ‘The Guiding Voice – Slice of Hope Series’, Rashmi talks about her Mentees, a talented self taught jewellery designer coping with Thalasemia while the other girl has been selected on her own merit in a multi national bank while also pursuing chartered accountancy.

Leaders Express – Inclusion Summit

Rashmi was invited as a Speaker among Leaders who expressed their views on Inclusion at the Manfest Varchasva Youth Festival held annually at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow. She addressed over 200 students on ‘Inclusion and Gender Parity in Media’.