Some films have such a powerful social message that it just hits you in the gut. I recently saw Water, a Deepa Mehta Indian film, that's still haunting me.

      This beautifully filmed movie tells the story of an 8-year-old child, Chuyler, who is sent to live out her life in an ashram (a widows' house) after her husband dies. The story is set in 1938 and exposes the cruelty of a religious practice that ostracized women (and even children), condemning them to a life of social isolation and poverty simply because their husbands' died. Shockingly, this practice is still going on today, which we learn at the end of the film. Over 30 million women in India are still condemned to social isolation because they are widows.

      Water is a commentary on the cruelty of religious fundamentalism wherever it exists. We need more social protest films like this.

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