Twelve women strip naked in front of Kangla fort in protest against the death in custody and alleged rape of a woman. Another woman has been on hunger strike for six years in the name of justice. Young men set themselves on fire and massive protest rallies are commonplace in the North-East Indian state of Manipur, but news of the struggles in this far-flung region barely ever reaches the rest of India, let alone the world. Tales from the Margins sheds light on the anger and turmoil of the people of Manipur.

Since the 1980s there has been insurgency and violence in Manipur - it is a complex social and political situation. The Indian government has attempted to crush the insurgency through military might, arrests, torture and extra-judiciary killings, shielded by undemocratic laws. Director Kavita Joshi has deliberately excluded the voices of the dominant forces in Manipur. Instead she has sought out the stories of a marginalised people and allowed them to express their plight. 

"When I heard of the troubles in Manipur in 2004, it was naturally very disquieting. However, what I found deeply troubling was not only the turmoil in Manipur but also how most of Indiasimply ignored all this. The mass protests, the anger and its repression hardly made it to the mainstream news media, except as token coverage, if that. It was as if Manipur did not exist." Kavita Joshi

During an election campaign in one of the poorer districts of the North Indian city of Lucknow tragedy struck. A politician had come up with the novel idea of giving out free saris in order to attract voters. An ensuing stampede led to the deaths of 22 women and the injury of hundreds more. 6 Yards to Democracy takes this misfortunate incident as a starting point for an investigation of the surrounding issues for women on the margins of Indian society.

While economic progress is sweeping across India, the women of Lucknow are forced out of their homes to make way for new apartments. Their pleas for access to such basic utilities as clean water go unanswered. Jain and Nevatia's film combines raw footage of the so-called "sari stampede" with interviews with the women who witnessed it. Poignant images of colourful saris hanging on a washing line fluttering in the breeze combine with testimonies of women fighting to preserve their dignity and rights in a powerful film which will remain with you long after you have left the cinema.