When Nimrit Sidhu played the granddaughter in Whistle, she was too young to fully understand the film's theme.
Four years later, the now-teenage Sidhu realizes the importance of its messages in favour of gender equality and fighting for your rights.
Sidhu was one of the speakers at the screening of Whistle.
The Chetna Association of Canada hosted the event on Saturday (Sept. 14) in honour of the upcoming Gender Equality Week.
Gender Equality Week is celebrated annually during the fourth week of September in Canada. This year, it takes place from Sept. 22 to 28.
Jai Birdi, the executive director of the Chetna Association of Canada, said the week is a time to celebrate the "progress Canada has made today in advancing gender equality while reflecting on the work that remains."
"Today, as you know, women continue to face many struggles. We acknowledge many of the accomplishments they have made, but yet, there are still many steps ahead that need to be taken," Birdi said.
The event was dedicated to two medical doctors in India who recently faced tragedy.
Dr. Pamposh, 26, faced discrimination which was related to caste ancestry, Birdi said. "So because of the issues she faced, she committed suicide, which in our view, was the result of the systemic barriers," he added.
The second doctor, Dr. Moumita Debnath, 31, was sexually assaulted and murdered in August 2024 in Kolkata, India.
"I wanted to share these two examples with you, just to highlight that when we talk about violence, when we talk about safety, it cuts across our economic and social barriers. It's not related to any person, any particular community, but violence affects everyone, and one of our goals is to create a universal landscape where people are able to live in harmony, peace and respect, regardless of their genders, friends," Birdi said.
The screening of Whistle was in the Dr. Ambedkar Room at Surrey library city centre branch.
"The venue was selected because of the longstanding partnership between Chetna Association of Canada and the Surrey Libraries going back to 2012 when the room in the honour of Dr. Ambedkar was first named," Birdi said.
Birdi said the films' themes aligned well with the theme of Gender Equality Week — unlocking potential: economic power through gender equality.
"Whistle, a joint production of Creative Heights Productions and Dynamic Creative Horizons, explored beliefs and taboos using blowing whistles as a symbol where girls are told that: girls don't blow whistles. The film effectively brings forward many other actions that girls and women are told not to do and thereby, limits the potential of women," Birdi said.
The short film, made in Surrey four years ago, was written by Navjot Dhillon and directed by Navraj Raja.
After the screening, the audience, filmmakers, and organizers discussed the film and various topics related to gender equality.
The grandfather in the film, played by Tarlok Sablok, told the audience to be the person he was at the end of the film, happy and accepting of his daughter-in-law and granddaughter.
"Don't be like a grumbling and grumpy old man like me the way I was," he said.
