Ana’s journey from Mumbai’s slums—to war torn Liberia—and into the Capitol Building, Washington

Ana Tiwari moved from Washington DC to Australia in mid 2007. “My husband loves Sydney and was not keen on moving to the US, so after our wedding, I took on the challenge of moving to yet another country and starting from scratch,” she says.

Soon after arrival, she joined Women in Film and Television (WIFT) NSW and started working as the Technical Director for the WOW (World of Women) Film Festival. She launched the Media Mentorship for Women (MMW) program in July 2008 with support of the WIFT NSW committee and her husband. She is now the Vice President of WIFT NSW, and the first woman from the film and television industry to be short-listed for this prestigious award.

“I have moved from one city to another and one country to another many times throughout my life, so I am familiar with the difficulties involved in trying to establish a career in an unfamiliar city,” says Tiwary. Her greatest challenges were that she knew absolutely nobody in Australia and wanted to enter the industry at mid-career which is way harder than trying to start at entry level. “Luckily I found WIFT and started to volunteer and work with the committee. Slowly I got to know people and in less than half a year, I feel that I have a very good understanding of the Australian media industry and this year I have started working at a film production house,” says Tiwary.

“Although I am still an Indian citizen and feel ‘Indian’ at heart, I also love Sydney and feel accepted and at home in Australia,” she adds. Her heart, as she admits, resides in the “hauntingly beautiful” Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya in the North-East. “This is the place where my soul belongs. No matter how far I travel or how many years go by, a part of me will always remain in Shillong.”

There are of course a millions “Indias” within India—and another, quite dramatically different landscape and culture captured Tiwary at anther stage in her life. Soon after completing her BA in Video Production from St. Anthony’s College Shillong, Tiwary moved to Aamchi Mumbai to study Animation and Computer Graphics for a year. “I ended up falling in love with Bombay and stayed on for 4 years,” says Tirwary.

In the city of dreams and toil, she “worked very hard” as an Assistant Director in television, advertising and films. Ask any Mumbai lover, about their strongest memories of the city—and it’s usually got to be the local trains and Bollywood. “The worlds largest film industry is in one city – Mumbai, so living there, travelling by the local trains and working in Bollywood can be extremely challenging but a fantastic learning ground for all filmmakers. It is a tough industry for men and women, so only those who are absolutely passionate about making films survive beyond the first few days,” she recollects. “As part of my work I got to travel around the world on film shoots and had the most wonderful time. I would love to make an out an out Bollywood film someday,” she adds.

Tiwary has some fantastic film work under her belt. She wrote, directed, shot and produced Breath of Life at the age of 19. “It was a very low budget docu-drama about environment protection and how children can help make a difference. It went on win the Best Film Award, aired on Doordarshan and made a huge profit for the investor,” she says.

In 2006, she produced, directed and filmed the Liberia film for a National Geographic Channel series called Women at the Forefront. The documentary captures the Women’s Peace Movement that brought about an end to the 15-year brutal civil war in Liberia and the election of the world’s first Black woman President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

“Liberian women are very inspiring and are working very hard to re-build their country from the ravages of war. When I was in Liberia, there was no electricity or running water and the country was in complete shambles. The flight to and from Liberia itself was an adventure because the only airline that travelled to Liberia had just had 3 accidents in the preceding week,” recollects Tiwary. “I had the opportunity to interview several former child soldiers who are trying to integrate into mainstream society and was deeply moved by their tragic stories. Most importantly hats off to Liberian women, who embody empowerment and personify positive energy and strength,” she adds.

In Australia she recently wrote, directed, shot and edited Astronomy for Aboriginal Students for the University of Western Sydney in early 2008. “The number of Aboriginal students taking up University education and specifically science subjects is extremely low. With this film I got to learn more about Aboriginal Astronomy and culture, I got the chance to interact with Aboriginal Students and encourage them to consider taking up science in the future,” says Tiwary.

She has also worked in the Development Division of National Geographic Channels Headquarters in Washington DC. “My job involved reviewing documentary proposals from around the world and helping with the selection process. Since I was in development, I did not actually make films but I learned a lot about documentary funding and development.”

Tiwary has also interviewed a range of World Leaders, including Hillary Clinton. “My first day of work at a TV Network in Washington DC, involved going to the Capitol Building and interviewing Hillary Clinton.” Tiwary interviewed her about the formation of the India Senate Caucus. “I went on to produce segments that involved interviewing numerous Senators, Congressmen and other world-renowned personalities such as Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Donald Rumsfeld, Henry Kissinger, Condoleezza Rice, Indian PM Manmohan Singh, Hungarian PM, Jack Welsch, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Amitabh Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Nandita Das, Deepa Mehta and numerous other dignitaries who visited Washington DC,” says Tiwary.

She also covered several events such as the 2004 US Elections, Tsunami Relief efforts, Katrina Relief efforts, the Virginia Tech tragedy, Indian PM’s visit to the US and even the slums of Mumbai, now at the centre of global attention with Slumdog Millionaire. Though Tiwary’s work was far more realistic than the pastiche offered in the commercial version.

Her documentary, on which she worked with Michael Reichmann, a filmmaker from Germany, is about the conflict between those who live in the slums and those who want to get rid of the slums to make Bombay look beautiful.

“The experience of making this film was heartbreaking and life transforming for me. I cannot forget the faces of the children I met in the slums,” says Tiwary. She even rattles off the statistics with a burning passion. “Slums cover only 6-8% of the city's land even though 62% of the population lives in them,” says Tiwary.

“The problems faced by slum-dwellers are manifold. They have to pay large sums of money to the slum lords before they can move into a small room in the slums. The water mafia charges so much money that a person living in slums ends up paying more for water than someone living in a posh building. The police and politicians have no sympathies for these powerless people, who are mostly immigrants from rural areas across India,” says Tiwari.

“When I was filming several thousand slum dwellers had been made homeless because the government decided to spend millions on bulldozing slums without caring to provide rehabilitation. I had the opportunity to meet Medha Patkar and was inspired by her commitment and devotion to being the voice of the powerless for over 20 years.”

However passé, it is difficult not to ask her about Slumdog Millionaire. “As a piece of fiction I enjoyed ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and hope that this film will help bring the issue of Mumbai slums to the forefront and help charities raise more money to support slum dwellers,” says Tiwary.

Yet, it is hardly possible, for someone who has seen these slums at such close quarters to truly “enjoy” a film that simplifies such complex social issues. “It is interesting how Danny Boyle has successfully turned a very disturbing scenario into an entertaining film,” says Tiwary.

“I know a lot of Indians are upset by the film, but then again a lot of Indians prefer living in denial and can sometimes be blindly Nationalistic to the point that they refuse to see problems faced by their own country men. I love India, but my nationalism is not tied to my identity and I can see things for what they truly are,” says Tiwary.

“In fact, I believe that those who truly love their country, are able to acknowledge the problems and try to pro-actively solve them rather than trying to sweep the dirt under the carpet. In my films I want to showcase India in the right light, in a balanced way, a positive image but with honesty.” I hope she makes the film very soon—I trust a woman of Tiwary’s sensitivities will surely stand up to the challenges of portraying Aamchi Mumbai with the heart and intelligence she rightfully deserves.

Meanwhile, if you have interesting immigrant stories to tell, please email Tiwary at ana.tiwary@yahoo.com. She could well turn it into a film.