Ladies Only

Country: India, Germany
City: Mumbai
Year: 2021
Languages: Hindi, English, Marathi
Run time: 79 Min

“What makes you angry?” asks the filmmaker. A small film crew enters the ladies compartments of the local trains in Mumbai. Chance encounters and acquaintances are invited to reveal their opinions, their confessions and their stories in a ‘public’ space. Their diverse answers thread themselves into an unfolding tapestry of details and observations. The light on the faces, the figures in the background, the driving noises of the train and the interactions between the travelers bring the space alive. Black and white images distill the essence of the space. A poetic rhythm takes us across Mumbai and it’s mix of cultures, languages and faces, providing insight into how urban Indian women see and shape their lives. Through a feminist lens, the filmmaker explores what ambitions and freedoms mean for women in a hyper-industrial, wealth-driven and complex world.

Director’s Bio: Rebana Liz John is an Indian artist filmmaker who grew up in Mumbai. Filmmaking became her primary medium while studying at the Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology in Bangalore, India (2004-08). She worked many jobs, assisting artists, filmmakers, eventually managing the video team and making health information videos for a social enterprise. Parallely, she kept her artistic practice alive. She recently graduated from the Post graduate programme in Film/Media Art at the KHM/ Academy of Media Arts Cologne, Germany, where she refined her documentary practice while reframing existing approaches and formats. Her interests lie in non-fiction narratives and the mutating position of an artist/filmmaker in society. Experimentation in non-fiction narratives, art in public space, animation and writing, are her modus operandi. Her documentary ‘Ships outside my window’ has travelled to film festivals around the globe and also won ‘Best Student Documentary’. Her feature length documentary ‘Ladies Only’ premiered at Busan International film Festival 2021, won the Compass Perspective Prize at the Berlinale 2022 and was nominated for the First Steps award 2022.

Director’s Bio: Rebana Liz John is an Indian artist filmmaker who grew up in Mumbai. Filmmaking became her primary medium while studying at the Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology in Bangalore, India (2004-08). She worked many jobs, assisting artists, filmmakers, eventually managing the video team and making health information videos for a social enterprise. Parallely, she kept her artistic practice alive. She recently graduated from the Post graduate programme in Film/Media Art at the KHM/ Academy of Media Arts Cologne, Germany, where she refined her documentary practice while reframing existing approaches and formats. Her interests lie in non-fiction narratives and the mutating position of an artist/filmmaker in society. Experimentation in non-fiction narratives, art in public space, animation and writing, are her modus operandi. Her documentary ‘Ships outside my window’ has travelled to film festivals around the globe and also won ‘Best Student Documentary’. Her feature length documentary ‘Ladies Only’ premiered at Busan International film Festival 2021, won the Compass Perspective Prize at the Berlinale 2022 and was nominated for the First Steps award 2022.