Kim Longinotto follows fiery activist Sampat Pal Devi as she crusades against child marriages, dowry deaths and the abuse of women in northern India. “A multilayered, psychologically complex portrait of both a woman and a moment.” — Variety
Angry and articulate... Devi is a ball-busting force of nature, trampling on outmoded stricture and tradition.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2011
Pink Saris 2010
‘Women have nothing but their tears, but I won’t let darkness swallow us,’ declares Sampat Pal Devi, a fiery crusader cutting a swathe through Uttar Pradesh, a rural state in northern India. The formidable founder of the Gulabi (or Pink) Gang, Devi has been crusading against child marriages, dowry deaths and the abuse of untouchable caste women for 20 years. A victim of abuse herself (she was married off at 12), she now shares her life with Babuji, a higher caste man, although her elderly husband and their 12 grandchildren live nearby. Young girls fleeing horrendous situations seek her protection. ‘If you’re shy, you’ll die,’ counsels Devi, calling the Pink Gang to bear witness, heckling police and challenging violent husbands and in-laws in village streets and squares. Kim Longinotto, veteran chronicler of freedom-fighting women, doesn’t flinch from showing how Devi’s brazen stance is sometimes a misstep, and how absolute conviction might become hubris. It is a probing portrait of a complex woman and a rousing call to arms. — SR