Search films, venues, guests...

Gulabi Gang

Directed by Nishtha Jain
India
2012
96 mins

Synopsis

This award-winning doc follows a vigilante collective of women in rural Uttar Pradesh who, dressed in pink saris, fight against both the casual and extreme violence women face.

Unflinching, Nishtha Jain trains her camera on urgent scenes. When a local woman is set on fire, the villagers offer only excuses. Sampat Pal Devi – the righteously fierce founder and leader of the 270,000-strong Gulabi Gang – investigates what really happened. Here, audiences follow as Jain’s camera becomes a witness, collecting evidence that Pal is able to use against the perpetrators. If Jain’s work can be understood as an attempt to both deploy and problematise the camera’s gaze, then Gulabi Gang is the most scorching and vital incarnation of that mission. At the 61st edition of India’s prestigious National Film Awards, it took out Best Film on Social Issues as well as Best Non-Feature Film Editing.

Limited seats are available for patrons requiring access for wheelchairs, low vision and hearing loop. Please contact our ticketing team directly on 1300 733 733 or tickets@sff.org.au to complete your booking.

“I doubt you will see a more important film this year. Gulabi Gang is an ideology, a searing exercise in awareness, which is why you must make this your mandatory watch”
Rahul Desai, Mumbai Mirror

Special Guests

Nishtha Jain
Director, Screenwriter

Nishtha Jain is an Indian film director and producer best known for her documentaries Gulabi Gang (2012), The Golden Thread (2022), and Lakshmi and Me (2007). Her eleventh and most recent film, Farming the Revolution (2024), won the Best International Documentary Prize at Hot Docs.

Tickets

Fri 6 June 2025, 6pm
Event Cinemas George Street - Cinema 3
WheelchairSubtitledAssisted Listening

If you like this, you might like...

Documentary
Farming the Revolution
This immersive documentary captures a mass movement in vivid close-up, as 12 million farmers challenge the Indian government, forcing it to retract its unjust farm laws.
Short
In My Hand
A poetic collage of memory and resistance, tracing Sámi activist Niilas Somby’s legacy through archive, re-enactment, and a dreamlike reflection on land, loss, and survival. Screens with Wilfred Buck
Documentary
Mr. Nobody Against Putin
This urgent, Sundance prize-winning documentary follows a brave and charismatic Russian teacher as he exposes shocking new propaganda at his school amid the invasion of Ukraine.
Documentary
Twiggy
British supermodel and enduring cultural icon Twiggy is a refreshingly open book in this charming doc by Sadie Frost (Quant), which features a constellation of famous faces.
Aboriginal FlagTorres Strait Flag

Sydney Film Festival acknowledges Australia’s First Nations People as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land, and pay respect to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, upon whose Country SFF is based.

We honour the storytelling and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia.

Don’t miss a thing!

Whether you’re in Sydney or one of our rural locations, sign up to our newsletters for all the latest news and offers.

SFF
About
Support
In Partnership With:
Website by ED.

Don't miss a thing!

Whether you're in Sydney or one of our rural locations, sign up to our newsletters for all the latest news and offers.