''The Backward Class'' is a 2014 Canadian

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

directed by Madeleine Grant. The film follows the success of a group of ethnically disadvantaged students near

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, India, in taking high-school graduation exams. The film, created by a group of graduates of the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

, premiered at the

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June ...

in May 2014 and won the Audience Favourite award. The 91-minute documentary was shot inside the

Shanti Bhavan The Shanti Bhavan Children's Project (in Hindi: "haven of peace") is a U.S. 501(c)(3) and India 80-G non-profit organisation based in Bangalore Karnataka, India, that operates a pre-K-12 residential school in Baliganapalli, Tamil Nadu. The sch ...

school, by Affinity Films. Grant lived and worked at the school while making the film. The dialogue is partly in English and partly in Tamil with English subtitles. The film was later screened in Toronto, received positive reviews from '' Now Magazine'' and ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

''. One of the stars of the film, Mala Muniswamy, travelled from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to attend the film's premiere."Vancouver Filmmaker Reminds Us Education is the Key to Everything"
''The Province'', Dana Gee, December 7, 2014

References

External links

* * 2014 films Canadian documentary films 2014 documentary films Documentary films about India Documentary films about high school Colleges in Bangalore Films set in Bangalore Films shot in Bangalore 2010s Canadian films {{2010s-Canada-documentary-film-stub