AMERICAN JEWISH WORLD SERVICE | ENDING CHILD MARRIAGE
“On the Road: Khushi’s Story” explores the challenges that threatened to push Khushi Prajapati into lasting poverty and an unwanted, early marriage—and how a driving program helped her steer her life in a new direction. Set in Delhi, India, this short film highlights the impact of Azad Foundation’s “Women on Wheels” program. With financial support from American Jewish World Service, Azad is able to train low-income women with limited education to become taxi drivers, helping them break into a profitable, traditionally all-male profession.
Runtime: 06:41
"AJWS wanted to tell true stories about child marriage that were emotionally captivating, but also showed the strength and strategies of the remarkable people we support in India. Andrew's editing talent and thoughtful collaboration was absolutely crucial to bringing that vision to the screen. He helped us unearth a unique feel and narrative structure for each video, crafting beautiful scenes driven not just by our footage, but by his carefully selected mix of music and natural sound.
His close attention to the details paid off, and I think the results speak for themselves. Moreover, he was such a pleasure to work with throughout post-production, even when facing some tight deadlines. He listened to us every step of the way, patiently working through feedback and ideas with us and rapidly coming up with creative solutions. AJWS is so thrilled with how these videos turned out."
– Elizabeth Daube, Research Communications Manager, American Jewish World Service, 2016
Photography and Videography: Jonathan Torgovnik
Editor: Andrew Hida
AJWS Producer: Elizabeth Daube
AJWS Project Manager: Dan Bloch
AJWS Vice President for Communications: Stuart Schear
Graphic Design: Elizabeth Leih
Client: American Jewish World Service
Services Provided: Foreign Language Editing
Publication Date: February 10, 2016
BACKGROUND
The American Jewish World Service is committed to ending poverty and promoting human rights in the developing world by supporting NGOs and non-profit organizations. Each year, 14 million girls worldwide are married before the age of 18. As part of a campaign to end child marriage, AJWS launched a microsite dedicated to telling the stories of the positive work carried out by their partner grantees in India.
BRIEF
The target audience of the video series is potential donors and the general public to generate donations and create public awareness of this important human rights issue. The videos would be sent out through social media and email channels to drive traffic to the microsite, as well as to generate interest in the media for additional syndication. Above all, AJWS wanted to produce a series of character-driven narratives that told emotional stories at the core of the grantees' mission: transforming adolescent girls’ lives on the ground by empowering them through opportunity and education of their rights.
RESULT
In collaboration with Jonathan Torgovnik and AJWS, we produced a two-part short web documentary series that told the success stories of Sonali Khatun, a young girl in West Bengal, India, and Khushi Prajapati a young cab driver in Delhi, India. Through their personal narratives we look at the cultural and social norms necessary to understand the prolific practice of child marriage in India, the scope of MBBCDS and Azad's work with women and girls, and the impact that these organizations have had in transforming young Indian women's lives.
The result are two emotional short films featured on the AJWS microsite, syndicated by Refinery 29 and Women in the World (a New York Times affiliate), and garnered much interest by the media, including Al Jazeera Media Network.