Claiming Our Voice

Filmmaker Jennifer Pritheeva Samuel's documentary short follows Andolan, an NYC-based group of South Asian women, as they create, rehearse, and present a theatrical production, Stories of Joy and Sorrow, centering on the exploitation and violence suffered by immigrant domestic workers. Led by Sri Lankan–American performance artist YaliniDream, the women assemble an evening of storytelling, singing, and dance designed to raise awareness and ultimately improve working and living conditions for domestics, whose employment in private homes is unregulated. This lack of legal protections enables employers to easily blur the distinction between work and private life, requiring domestics to be on the job constantly—in some cases with no time off—and accept low wages (other exploitative conditions include a lack of privacy and restrictions on movements outside the home). The members of Andolan decide to focus their presentation on life in Bangladesh (their home country), emigration to the United States, and experiences in personally overcoming poverty and abuse. Two members are interviewed about Andolan's impact on their lives, noting that they no longer feel merely like victims telling their stories to journalists or attorneys, but rather have learned that speaking out can result in change. Presented without narration, Claiming Our Voice brings their message to a much wider audience. DVD extras include a full performance of Stories of Joy and Sorrow (excerpted in the documentary), as well as a companion curriculum on the power of narrative. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (M. Puffer-Rothenberg)