Suee, a film directed by Sai Paranjpye

Sai Paranjpye

Sai Parānjpye is a movie director and a screenwriter in India. She is the director of award-winning movies, Sparsh, Katha, Chasme Buddoor, and Disha....

, explores a number of areas in the lives of injecting drug users including treatment, care, peer and community support, rehabilitation

Drug rehabilitation

Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...

 and the workplace. It was launched by Response Beyond Borders, the Asian consortium on drug use HIV

HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

/ AIDS

AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

 and poverty at the IX International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific.

Ms Paranjpye, a Cannes Film Festival

Cannes Film Festival

The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...

 award winner, worked closely with injecting drug users from the Sankalp Rehabilitation Trust

Sankalp Rehabilitation Trust

is a Mumbai-based NGO that works with the injecting drug using community since 1995, preventing HIV/AIDS through education and needle-exchange programme & disposals. Using a harm reduction approach, they provide services such as abscess management, basic medical care, counseling, and opioid...

 in Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

 and spent time interviewing them on location and involving them as actors in the film. She also consulted NGO Sharan in Delhi

Delhi

Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...

, the International Center for Research on Women

International Center for Research on Women

-Focus areas:ICRW research identifies women's contributions to their communities and the barriers – like HIV, violence, and lack of education – that prevent them from being economically stable and able to fully participate in society...

, and the World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

.

The 30 minute film was aired on Doordarshan

DoorDarshan

Doordarshan is an Indian public service broadcaster, a division of Prasar Bharati. It is one of the largest broadcasting organizations in India in terms of the infrastructure of studios and transmitters. Recently, it has also started Digital Terrestrial Transmitters. On September 15, 2009,...

 on World AIDS Day

World AIDS Day

World AIDS Day, observed December 1 every year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. Government and health officials observe the day, often with speeches or forums on the AIDS topics. Since 1995, the President of the United States has made an...

, December 1, 2009.

Production

The film was drawn from the South Asia Region Development Marketplace (SAR DM), an initiative spearheaded by the World Bank. It consists of a competitive grants programme that identifies and supports small scale projects demonstrating an innovative approach to reducing HIV stigma and discrimination in the region. 26 civil society

Civil society

Civil society is composed of the totality of many voluntary social relationships, civic and social organizations, and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society, as distinct from the force-backed structures of a state , the commercial institutions of the market, and private criminal...

organizations from across South Asia won grants of US$ 40,000 each to bring their ideas to fruition.