About
"Marry young, have two children, and get sterilized" is the advice women across India have heard for decades. Families, health workers, the central government all spread the same message. With limited information about other forms of birth control, sterilization is the only option for many. This lack of choice is not an oversight by the government; rather, it's a deliberate policy aimed at controlling India's growing population. Women are corralled into temporary "camps" where hundreds are sterilized at a time. Quality is sacrificed for quantity; individual attention for efficiency.
Small Family, Happy Family follows Mitilesh, a young woman from rural Madhya Pradesh, as she is recruited by health workers in her village to undergo sterilization and decides with her husband to pursue the surgery. Her story is situated in the larger context of population control in India, revealing how these policies affect the lives of women. The film offers a highly personal glimpse into the lives of women positioned at the turbulent nexus of government policy and reproductive rights. In Mitilesh we see so many other women – in India and in our own countries – who also have tenuous control over their bodies and choices.
Reviews
"Hamilton and Munger’s Small Family, Happy Family is harrowing. Well-paced with an excellent utilization of stock footage to support main ideas, [the film] offers a well-conveyed explanation of the prejudice found within India’s Family Planning Program. Viewers will be compelled to advocate for women’s reproductive rights globally."
-Andrew Koval, MSLS
Credits
Directed and Produced by
Annie Munger and Zoe Hamilton
Executive Producer
Jana Edelbaum
Editor
Grace Mendenhall
Special thanks to
Mitilesh
Binod
Shalu
Shivam
Mewa
Devika Biswas
Jitne Devi
Ladoo
And all women who offered their time, stories, and kindness to us during the making of this film.
Director of Photography
Annie Munger
Location Sound Recording
Zoe Hamilton
Composer
Aditya TB and Vivek Venugopal
with Sample Culture Productions
Graphics
Grace Mendenhall
Hindi Title Design
Shreya Kasat
Production Assistants
Tanya Tyagi
Rani Singh Verma
Elizabeth Zhou
Translators
Kshitiz Anand
Manish Chettri
Kunal Deshpande
Anita Khanchandani
Mahima Mahida
Priya Malik
Akshay Bhoan
Rani Singh Verma
Colorist
Robert Arnold
Sound Design & Mix
Jeremiah Moore
Special Thanks for the Generous Support from
MyArk Foundation
Lepercq Charitable Foundation
iDeal Partners
Chuck and Deborah Royce
Our Indiegogo Contributors
Additional Thanks to
Mohan Rao
Abhijit Das
Poonam Muttreja
Jashodhara Dasgupta
Brinda Karat
Sana Contracter
Sarita Barpanda
The Staff of HRLN
A.R. Nanda
Rajni Soren
Sulakshana Nandi
Colin Gonsalves
Ramakant Rai
Sanjai Sharma
Sudha Tiwari
Kalpana Apte
Kalpana Mehta
Raj Dev
Dochka Hristova
Pramod Tiwari, Vijay Thapak and family
Daksha Parmar
Vani Subramanian
Sujata Moorti
Betsy Hartmann
Sama Resource Group for Women & Health
Gail and Victor Khosla
Amit Saraogi
Vijay Singh
Archival Footage Provided by
The Films Division of India
Associated Press
F.I.L.M. Archives
Fremantle
Winston Bohl
The Los Angeles Times
The Canadian Press
The Ford Foundation
The Rockefeller Archive Center
Additional Music
APM Music
This project was completed with the support of the Women Make Movies Production Assistance Program and the support of Big Sky Pitch
© 2018 Goat Tree Productions