On February 28, we – the South Asian Diaspora Action Collective (SADAC) – hosted a community screening of the documentary film Farming the Revolution. Directed by award winning filmmaker Nishtha Jain, the film won the Best International Documentary award at Hot Docs.

The film portrays a protest encampment by millions of farmers, most of them Sikhs from the Punjab region but also others from across India, who protested repressive farm laws. The documentary explores the magnitude and complexity of the work that was involved in organizing a protest that had 12 million participants and lasted over a year, and it shows the resolve and persistence of the ordinary women and men who made it happen. 

“I had my first community screening of Farming the Revolution in Canada in an area called Parc Extension, which is a poor neighbourhood [in Montreal] occupied largely by the South Asian community,” Jain said. The screening took place in the basement of a library and attendees were a mix of members of the Sikh community, men and women, as well as activists from various immigrant diasporas.

Yusuf Saadi was one of the community members who braved the snow and -15℃ weather to attend the screening. He said, “Farming the Revolution truly surprised me by presenting how sophisticated the Panjabi farmers' unions were to organize and sustain protests involving millions of people for over a year. I was struck by how effectively the union leaders shared knowledge to ordinary farmers about the IMF and the World Bank's imperialistic imperatives and how this is mutually reinforced by the Indian state.” 

He continued, “It made me think of the Bangladeshi movement last summer to oust [Prime Minister Sheikh] Hasina, which was mostly led by students but later received support from a wider demographic.”

At the end, three South Asian audience members talked about how SADAC was instrumental in their struggle against deportation. After leaving India due to various political hardships they faced, they experienced state repression here in Canada as well. Their stories paralleled that of the farmers, who also experienced hard-won victory. They are now permanent residents of Canada. Their story added to the inspiration they felt from the film to keep up the good fight. In all, it was an emotional and fulfilling evening with a lot of sharing of stories and food.

Nishtha Jain's films have showcased women's movements against gender and caste oppression, the struggles of jute mill workers, and the 2020 farmers' protests in India.

Jain lived among the farmers in the tents outside Delhi in 2020-2021 and shot the film over the period of 13 months. The film thus covers the protest from the inside. It provides a glimpse into the emotional highs and lows and brings inspiring stories of courage in the face of power. The protest gave an ultimatum to the Modi government to repeal the three Farm Laws, and at its peak included more than half a million people who occupied highways outside Delhi’s boundaries. It was the largest protest gathering in history.

We co-presented the Montreal premier of Farming the Revolution with Cinema Politica Concordia.