Simranpreet's Story: Documentary Film Screening , Q&A and Photo Exhibit

Documentary Film Screening: Simranpreet's Story

Join us at St John's College, Oxford, for a screening of Simranpreet's Story — a short documentary that poignantly captures the experience of pregnancy, maternal depression, and caregiving in rural India. Part of the Pregnancy and Mental Health film series produced by Professor Shahirose Premji (Queen’s University, Canada), this film by award-winning filmmaker Munmun Dhalaria follows the story of one mother as she navigates psychosocial stress and patriarchal norms with the support of a community-based mental health counsellor.

The film is one artistic output of a collaborative effort to understand mental health and intervention from the perspective of women both receiving and delivering care. It highlights a maternal mental health intervention designed and implemented by Aneel Singh Brar (DPhil Student, St John’s College; Co-Founder of Mata Jai Kaur) and a global team of collaborators.

A trailer for the film can be viewed here.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker and the film’s two protagonists, and a panel discussion featuring the producer, filmmaker, and other members of the collaborative—joining both in person and remotely from India and Canada.

This event will be of interest to those engaged in maternal health, global health, mental health, gender equity, health care delivery, and in ways of knowing that prioritize lived experience.

Refreshments will be served.

Free tickets for the screening can be reserved here. It is also possible to watch online by signing up here.

Photo Exhibit

This screening is part of a larger event that includes a photo exhibit featuring images captured by women in rural India documenting their own lives and experiences around perinatal depression.

The exhibit will be in the Larkin Room at St John's College, Oxford all day on June 14th, 2025.