“Pani Doctors—Join the Sisterhood of Water”: A Participatory Film Project and an Educational Musical

The transdisciplinary cooperation between a hydrogeologist and a freelance film-maker resulted in two films about a participatory and interdisciplinary socio-hydrogeological project of Freie Universitat Berlin, Germany, which took place in Jaipur, India, between 2016 and 2019: The documentary “Pani Check – The Sisterhood of Water” and the educational short film “Pani Doctors – Join the Sisterhood of Water”. In the latter, the peri-urban low-income area Khara Kuaa transforms into a colourful theatre stage as Rekha Devi, Zeenat Begum and their neighbours unpack the scientific water testing kit and explain it to other women. “Pani Doctors – Join the Sisterhood of Water” is a 10-min short film and educational musical about groundwater monitoring which is developed in a participatory way by the director, the scientist and the Indian women, who took part in the socio-hydrogeological model project, together. New ways of science communication and education are followed with this approach. On the one hand, the film design was adapted to local viewing habits, and on the other hand, the target groups – in this case poor urban women in India – were included into the creation process itself.