Good Screenings

EQUALS on film: Made In India

Directed by Rebecca Haimowitz & Vaishali Sinha

• Hot Docs Film Festival 2010
• Woodstock Film Festival 2010
• St. Louis International Film Festival,
• 3rd Jaipur Intenrational Film Festival 2011
• 7th Asian Women's Film Festival 2011

Synopsis

Made in India is a film about the human experiences behind the phenomenon of "outsourcing" surrogacy to India. The film follows the journey of an infertile American couple, an Indian surrogate and the business of reproductive tourism that brings them together.

About the director

Rebecca Haimowitz & Vaishali Sinha

Rebecca Haimowitz (Co-Director, Co-Producer): Rebecca Haimowitz received her MFA in Filmmaking from Columbia University's Graduate School of the Arts, where she was awarded Faculty Honors and also worked as a Screenwriting Instructor. Her short film, “Follow Me,” screened at several international film festivals (including SXSW and Woodstock International Film Festival). Rebecca has directed various short documentary films, including a piece about feminist work in the prison abolition movement, a youth-produced series on over-policing in NYC schools (made for the NYCLU), and "Soundproof," about cochlear implants and deafness in her family. Rebecca is committed to creating documentary and narrative films that reveal the human side behind social and political issues. She lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

Vaishali Sinha (Co-Director, Co- Producer): Vaishali Sinha co-directed the short documentary, "Red Roses," exploring the lives of South Asian women who come to the United States via marriage & family obligations, and “Choose Life?” a short narrative about abortion and personal choice. She is also co-directing the film "Kashmir"- personal narratives of university students of Kashmir, at the brink of graduation in this extremely contentious and politically troubled State of India. In the past she has worked as editing associate for filmmaker Richard Wormser at Videoline Productions. She has also worked for non-profit organizations in India promoting women's voices, and has studied film, sexuality and human rights at the New School University, NYU and an Institute by CREA (Creating Resources and Empowerment for Action). Vaishali uses filmmaking as a platform to explore and discuss socially sensitive issues. She is from Mumbai, India and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.

• “Made in India tackles questions that have no easy answers.”
  - Centre for Genetics and Society

• Made In India Official Website

More Information

In San Antonio, TX, Lisa and Brian Switzer sell their house and risk their savings on a Medical Tourism company that has promised them an affordable solution after 7 years of infertility. Across the world in Mumbai, India, Aasia Khan puts on a burka - not for religious reasons - but to hide her identity from neighbors as she enters a fertility clinic to be implanted with this American couple’s embryos. These are the scenes that unfold as we watch East meet West in suburbs and shanty-towns, in test tubes and Petri dishes, in surrogates and infertile couples. “Reproductive Tourism” has become a booming trade, valued at more than $450 million in India, and it’s growing rapidly. Infertile couples in the U.S. pay up to $100,000 for a domestic surrogacy, but they can pay for the same in India for roughly $25,000 (this includes clinic charges, lawyer’s bills, travel and lodging, and the surrogate’s fee). But this growth is occurring within a complete legal vacuum: currently, there are no actual laws on surrogacy in India - only suggested guidelines. And yet the practice continues to expand without regulation or protection.

MADE IN INDIA is the first feature documentary to show the personal stories of the real people involved — following their journeys throughout the entire surrogacy process. Aasia is a 27-year-old mother of 3 who lives in a one-room house in a slum in Mumbai. She laughs with disbelief when she first heard of surrogacy. “A child without a man?! How can that be? There has to be some kind of a… ‘relationship,’ right?!” Aasia’s decision to become a surrogate - to do so without her husband’s consent even - debunks any simplistic characterization of her as an exploited victim. Lisa & Brian see themselves as fighters: “In the US, if you’re struggling to have a child, you have to be a lawyer or a doctor to afford this. It’s not fair.” They believe hiring an Indian surrogate is their only chance to have a child of their own, and they are sure that they will help Aasia just as she helps them. But when facing accusations of exploitation, Lisa and Brian must defend their choices. “Walk a mile in my shoes before you judge me,” Lisa commands, staring into the camera. As Aasia and the Switzers’ stories grow increasingly tied together — the bigger picture behind the globalization of the Reproductive Industry begins to unfold - revealing questions of citizenship, human rights, global corporate practices, choice, reproductive rights, commodification of the body, legal accountability and notions of motherhood. Throughout the film, scenes of America and India are juxtaposed, charting out the obstacles faced by the US couple, and giving an intimate understanding of the surrogate’s life story and motivations.

MADE IN INDIA explores the impact of the decisions of one person over the other. This film reveals the legal and ethical implications behind their choices, and presents the conflict between the personal and the political dilemmas of international surrogacy.

Choose a version