Title:  The Backward Class

Feature Documentary  /  HD  /  In Production

Writer/Director: Madeleine Grant

Producers: Jessica Cheung & Madeleine Grant

website: www.thebackwardclass.com

Synopsis:

‘The Backward Class’ are the first aspiring graduates of Shanti Bhavan Residential School.  They are a class of dalit (backward class or ‘untouchable’ caste) students who undertake the national Indian School Certificate exams as a means to a brighter future for themselves, and an opportunity to break their families out of the destitution they’ve been entrenched in for generations. 

After thirteen years of preparation, this year it is up to the students – they must successfully write these graduation exams.  They are the first twelfth grade class of dalit students in India’s history to have this opportunity, and the inaugural class of their school. 

With their parents foreseeing their prospective accomplishments as a means of survival, and their school struggling with the recent economic crisis, the students have not only their own futures at stake, but those of their nearest & dearest as well.  The pressure is on!