As the Clean India campaign gets underway, with its ambitious target of a toilet for every household by 2019, WaterAid explores how something as simple as a toilet can help transform lives by following the story of one ambitious mother in Uttar Pradesh.
Radha Verma, determined to protect her daughter after she narrowly escapes a physical attack, builds one of the first toilets in Rakhi Mandi slum, home to 3,500 people. Radha’s story shows that change is possible, even in a challenging urban environment, and that ultimately everyone, everywhere needs a safe place to go to the toilet.
With support from WaterAid’s local partner, Sharmik Bharti, and the HSBC Water Programme.
The film was made into a 20 minute documentary broadcast in India, a 10 minute documentary for film festivals and a 5 minute documentary for The Guardian. There was also a multimedia long-form story that I created for WaterAid's website.
The Team
Catherine Rose | Director and producer
Chris Turner | DOP and editor
Isabelle Rose Povey | Assistant producer, camera, photographer and long-form multimedia editor.
Features & Awards
Guardian feature, 2015
Broadcast on Doordarshan, 2015
We The Peoples Festival, 2015
Winner of Community Investment and Best overall film at TVE Global Sustainability Film Awards, 2015
Woodpecker Film Festival, 2015
Open City Documentary Festival, 2015
ASFF, 2015
SIMA, 2016
