Documentary film W.O.M.B to open Indian Film Festival Of Melbourne

Ajitesh Sharma's documentary film W.O.M.B (Women Of My Billion) has been selected as the opening night film of the 12th Indian Film Festival Of Melbourne (IFFM).

This year's IFFM will take place both physically and virtually, with the physical festival running from August 12 to 20 and its digital edition running from August 15 to 30.

W.O.M.B is the story of Srishti Bakshi, a young woman who embarks on a monumental journey, walking almost 4000km over 240 days, from Kanyakumari in the south to Kashmir in the north. Along the way, she meets and learns about the experiences of many women from all corners of India.

Srishti is the founder of CrossBow, a social enterprise for empowering women. Her epic on-foot journey across India was widely covered in 2017 and 2018.

Speaking about the documentary and her mission, Srishti shared, "Violence against women and girls is a human rights violation. And since the outbreak of Covid-19 and the world locking down to live within four walls, emerging data and reports from those on the frontlines have shown that all types of violence against women and girls, particularly domestic violence, has only intensified. In this documentary we have celebrated ordinary women who’ve shown extraordinary courage to rise above their limitations and challenge deeply entrenched gender norms. We did this to unite the majority because what we discovered was that ‘gender-based violence is a crime perpetrated by the minority but perpetuated by the silence of the majority.”