Aunties (working title)

In a story that connects two centuries, Berkeley-based historian and artist, Barnali, spearheads a grassroots campaign to rename a street after Kala Bagai, an unsung South Asian woman who organized communities in California against intense racial discrimination in the early 1910s. In the process, Barnali discovers her own political power.

Of the 240 million streets in the United States, more than three-quarters are named after men, very few after women, and 5,000 after George Washington alone. But how many streets celebrate people of color and their contributions? How many are named after South Asians?

Aunties tells the story of a grassroots effort to rename a Berkeley street after Kala Bagai, a South Asian immigrant who fought racial injustice a century ago in the San Francisco Bay Area. Through never-before-seen archival materials, the film unfolds between centuries to weave Kala Bagai's trials and a historical journey with a contemporary street-renaming campaign led by community historian and activist Barnali Ghosh, illustrating the power of participatory democracy.

The issue at the heart of the project—the underrepresentation and historical oversight in the naming of public spaces—resonates profoundly in the current polarized world. We envision a society where the streets and institutions around us reflect the demographics of our country and acknowledge the contributions that women and communities of color have made. The film team will work beyond when the camera stops rolling to create a social impact campaign that provides a toolkit for communities to rename the streets that represent them.

Director/ Producer: Pallavi Somusetty

Lead Producer: Prerana Thakurdesai

Editor: Melina Tupa

Associate Producer: Tanay Gokhale

Director’s website: www.chandifilms.com