Millions of Indians live in homes that fail to meet basic standards of safety, hygiene, and dignity. Recent studies reveal that approximately 35% of India’s urban population lives in informal settlements or slums, many of which fall far short of basic habitability standards (ScienceDirect, 2025). These substandard homes aren’t merely an issue of infrastructure. They perpetuate cycles of poverty by affecting health, limiting educational attainment, reducing economic opportunities, and undermining social dignity.

This is the backdrop against which WeRise emerged - an initiative with a vision to create sustainable social communities that go beyond providing houses, aiming instead to build environments where families can live with safety, pride, and opportunity.

Our brief was to create a documentary film that could communicate this vision powerfully to diverse audiences. The challenge lay in balancing multiple objectives: humanizing the scale of India’s housing problem, presenting WeRise’s solution as a credible and scalable model, and inspiring action from potential partners, funders, and volunteers.

This required that the film document the realities of substandard housing, highlight the systemic gaps that kept families in these conditions, and introduce WeRise as a collaborative, innovative approach capable of addressing the issues in focus.

We approached the film as both researchers and storytellers. We began with extensive research on sustainable housing models, drawing lessons from global examples like Mexico’s large‑scale community housing initiatives and Africa’s localized, skill‑driven construction methods. These insights helped us place WeRise in the global conversation around housing and sustainability, while anchoring it in the Indian context.

Narratively, we used a multi‑layered structure to bring the story to life. At its core were deeply personal accounts - like Lakshmi, a domestic worker living in unsafe housing - which made the problem tangible. These personal stories were framed by voices of leaders and experts, including WeRise’s founder, social sector leaders, and global design experts, therefore adding depth and credibility. This combination of intimate storytelling and institutional insight allowed us to communicate the problem and the solution with equal depth.

The film also highlighted WeRise’s five‑pillar approach: technological empowerment, financial inclusion, sustainable design, sweat equity, and community building. We showed what this looks like in practice. From soil‑cement block technology produced on‑site to community‑driven construction and shared spaces designed to support education, livelihoods, and social equity. Pre‑interviews with participants and extensive on-location filming ensured authenticity, while careful scripting tied these elements into a coherent, compelling narrative.

The result was a 24‑minute documentary, supported by shorter versions for digital and advocacy use. The film captured WeRise’s early milestones, including the identification of 19 homes for transformation, the securing of government clearances, the mobilization of 30 volunteers, and a clear roadmap to build 20 homes in 12 months, with plans to scale to hundreds in the coming years.

The film also positioned WeRise as an innovative and credible solution, and provides a versatile asset for fundraising, partnerships, and public engagement.