Drawing the Tiger

Screenings

2015 Season
New York

Drawing the Tiger tells the story of a rural Nepalese family that has lived for generations as subsistence farmers, today surviving on less than a dollar per day. A beacon of possibility shines upon the family when Shanta, the eldest daughter is given a full scholarship to attend school in Kathmandu. Shot over seven years, the film begins as a straightforward victory for Shanta and women’s education more broadly. However, as life unfolds, Shanta does not return to free her nfamily from poverty as all imagined she would. The pursuit of this opportunity amid her perception of family pressure exacts an unexpected cost.

Filmmaker(s): 
Amy Benson and Scott Squire
Country of Production: 
USA Nepal
Year: 
2015
96m
Genre: 
Documentary
Filmmaker Bio(s): 
Amy Benson and Scott Squire

"The boundaries, the ones drawn up and familiar, like countries, caste, and gender feel easy to define and to direct a finger at. It is the confines tucked in between those more tangible that make being human beautiful, complex, and difficult. 

When we set out to make a film about a girl in Nepal who left her village to get an education on scholarship, we believed we were telling a story about a girl who was breaking cultural and social boundaries. We naively—stupidly even—made assumptions about what this looked and felt like—we had so predetermined the end to our story that we were blind to the obstacles she was actually facing—the ones we should have seen because they are familiar."

- Amy Benson and Scott Squire | Directors, Drawing the Tiger

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