On Thursday, February 22nd, Rails, Jails and Trolleys had its official Vancouver Premiere at the KDocsFF: Journeys in Solidarity, Metro Vancouver’s Premier Social Justice Film Festival. Janice Morris, the Festival Director welcomed the audience to KDocsFF’s 10th annual film festival that recognizes, celebrates, and showcases documentaries from all around the world, advocating for social justice and change. In honour of this year’s festival theme: Journeys in Solidarity, KDocsFF selected Rails, Jails and Trolleys, to be part of their festival program highlighting ‘Radical Humanity.’
Henna Mann, director of Rails, Jails and Trolleys delivered the keynote speech to introduce the film. She shared her experience in creating the documentary alongside Dr. Satwinder Bains, the Director of the South Asian Studies Institute and the producer of the film as a “personal and eye-opening journey” as her own family comes from a lineage of farmers from Punjab, India. She alerted the audience that twenty-eight farmers commit suicide in India every day, a record reported by the National Crimes Bureau of India that does not count female farmers, children of farmers or farm labourers as they are not landowners. She also mentioned the farmers’ protests that have renewed in India as of February 2024, bringing awareness to the ongoing crisis that farmers in India face including financial, health, safety, and environmental concerns.
Following the screening, Journalist Jagdeesh Mann and Founder of Poetic Justice Foundation Mo Dhaliwal who are both featured as interviewees in the documentary joined in an open Q&A discussion alongside Henna Mann, moderated by Journalist Kiran Singh. Many of the questions from the audience were regarding the renewed farmers’ protests and how we as members of the Indo-Canadian diaspora can stay united in this movement, despite living half a world away. Jagdeesh, Mo and Henna provided