“The Crossover” is an educational curriculum co-created with people with disabilities that addresses the misrepresentation of disability in Indian films. It equips filmmaking students with tools to check their biases, recognize ableism and understand how inauthentic narratives impact the disability community. By amplifying the voices of the disability community and making young filmmakers aware and responsible, the project aims to eventually shift the damaging perceptions that films have created.
Mahima Jaju
Mahima Jaju is from New Delhi, India. After graduating in Communication Design from MIT Institute of Design, India, she worked on a UX UI project for a year. Even though this experience was richly rewarding, she felt disconnected from the larger social and political context in which her designs were operating. Mahima then decided to pursue a Liberal Arts fellowship as a Young India Fellow at Ashoka University, India. Now sitting at the intersection of liberal studies and design, Mahima wants to commit herself to action. During her time at DSI, Mahima wants to equip herself with the necessary toolkits needed to understand and execute design solutions in a more people-centered way.
Janvi Ghatalia
Janvi Ghatalia comes to DSI from Mumbai, India, and has a background in Product Design from MIT Institute of Design. Since her graduation, she has been working on developing integrated workstations for industrial workspaces. Janvi also had the opportunity to work with Memesys Culture Lab on designing a political strategy board game called SHASN. Through DSI, Janvi hopes to learn the skills needed to understand and address issues related to human health, well-being and education.
