"The Revolutionary Optimists" Film Screening and Panel

I recently represented Sister Cities of Louisville in a student panel discussion on a film shown as part of the Metamorphosis Film Series at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville. The Center describes this event as part of “a variety of inspiring and transformative films focused on gender equity, global citizenship, or topics related to Muhammad Ali and his core values. Each film is followed by a panel discussion where audience participation is encouraged.”

The film screened was The Revolutionary Optimists, a documentary from filmmakers Maren Grainger-Monsen and Nicole Newnham. It focuses on one of many slums in Calcutta, India, lacking potable water and facing other hardships such as disease, child labor, and domestic violence. But the people driving change in this neighborhood are not whom you might expect: the titular revolutionaries are children growing up in the slum, and their optimism forms the heart of this moving story. Under the guidance of Amlan Ganguly, a former attorney who now works with slum children through his nonprofit organization Prayasam, the young advocates inspire both their community and the film’s audience.

In the movie, we meet four children involved with Prayasam, each with different personal struggles. Sikha and Salim, 12-year-olds whose families must walk for two hours every day to fetch water from the nearest tap, are campaigning for a new water tap nearby. Kajal, a young girl who dreams of becoming a tailor and lifting her family out of poverty, works in a brick field to support her ailing mother and studies at night by candlelight. And 15-year-old Priyanka, a graceful and fluid dancer, suffers in an abusive family even as she tries to escape the threat of child marriage. Through it all, we see Ganguly interacting with the children, encouraging their efforts to break cycles of poverty and disempowerment while teaching them independence and the resilience of hope. While progress is slow and setbacks inevitable, the small triumphs of these kids shine, tiny flames of optimism that persist in an environment of often literal darkness.

Roughly 30 people attended the screening, including local high school students chaperoned by community church leaders and teachers. After the film, Hussanatu Kamar (Americana Community Center), Tori Shover (WaterStep), and I participated on a panel moderated by Gilman Bagga, a student at St. Francis High School and a member of the Muhammad Ali Center Council of Students program. Gilman encouraged us to discuss meaningful moments in the film and how they related to our own community. We collectively identified three key values of the children in the slum—compassion, commitment, and communication—that helped them maintain optimism and work for change. It is especially important, we concluded, that Louisvillians remember those values in their day-to-day interactions with others. Grassroots change starts with a friendly smile and a kind word; only communities that are connected and compassionate can work together to successfully tackle problems.

The mission of Sister Cities also reflects the importance of these values. We strive to “promote peace through the respect we show, understanding we foster, and cooperation we seek with our Sister Cities around the world”—goals that require strong partnerships rooted in mutual compassion, commitment, and communication. As we create and strengthen people-to-people connections with our Sister Cities around the world, we need to keep in mind the role of optimism and kindness in our daily lives. The children of The Revolutionary Optimists are role models for the power of young people to bring about change, even in small ways—and how we can apply the lessons of those changes to our own lives.

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The Muhammad Ali Center Metamorphosis Film Series, in partnership with ITVS Community Cinema, will hold another film screening and panel discussion on Thursday, June 27, from 5:30 P.M. to 8 P.M. at the Muhammad Ali Center (144 N. Sixth Street). The film presented will be Love Free or Die, on the life and struggle of the first openly gay Episcopal Bishop in the United States, Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. For more information, please visit alicenter.org.