Geeta Gandbhir is an award-winning director, producer, and editor. As director, she won Best Documentary at the News and Doc Emmys for HBO’s “I Am Evidence,” and Best Government and Politics Documentary for “Armed With Faith,” a PBS documentary film. She co-directed “Prison Dogs” and “A Journey of a Thousand Miles: Peacekeepers.” As editor, she won a Primetime Emmy for Best Editing for Spike Lee’s documentary series, “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts,” and also for “By The People, the Election of Barack Obama.” A documentary film she co-produced, “The Sentence,” also won a Special Jury Primetime Emmy.

“Hungry to Learn” will premiere at the 2019 DOC NYC film festival on November 9.

W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.

GG: “Hungry to Learn” is about the failure of our higher education system, told through the stories of four students struggling with homelessness and hunger as they try to complete their undergraduate degrees.

The American Dream of higher education is slipping farther and farther out of reach for most people with each passing day, and the goal of this film is to raise awareness about the issue while creating a platform for student voices.

W&H: What drew you to this story?

GG: Executive Producers Soledad O’Brien and Rose Arce brought this topic to my attention — honestly, I wasn’t aware of how dire the situation is until I began working on this film.

Sara Goldrick-Rab, who is an activist we follow, also helped me understand the intergenerational effects of the prohibitive cost of higher education, and how this is an issue that can harm us for generations.

Young people who want to do the right thing and pursue a college education are being punished for their aspirations — and this is an injustice that needs immediate attention. The future of the country is at stake. The U.S. will fail to compete on the global stage if things remain the way they are.

W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?

GG: I hope people leave the theater inspired by the resilience and perseverance of the students they meet in the film, but I also hope they leave motivated to demand change in the form of greater support for these young people.

College should be accessible to everyone and the current situation is untenable for aspiring students and the nation — it should not be a traumatizing experience for our youth.

W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?

GG: The biggest challenge was finding students willing to participate — there is a lot of shame and stigma around poverty, homelessness, and hunger, and many kids are reluctant to talk about their situations. Often they are told that it’s their fault or they just need to suck it up because the pervasive myth that everyone “goes hungry in college” is so difficult to overcome.

Many kids don’t know who to turn to, and don’t want to burden their already strapped families. The average age of students today is also significantly older than it was 20 years ago, so parental or family support may not even be an option.

Students are juggling school, work, and countless other issues, and the toll on them is extensive. The dropout rate is 30 percent, and many are left with nothing but debt. So getting already overwhelmed, stressed students to take time out for us to film with them was the hardest thing.

W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made. 

GG: The film was funded by two foundations who are devoted to addressing the hunger crisis in America — ConAgra Foundation and William T. Grant. ConAgra focuses on food insecurity and works towards solutions. William T. Grant has funded research that focuses on studying and quantifying the problem, as well as empowering solutions oriented thinking.

Our approach to funding was to investigate which foundations were doing work in this area, even if they didn’t traditionally fund films. I spoke to them about how sponsoring a film gave them a new venue to advance their agenda.

W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?

GG: I loved animation and comic books as a child, and worked in animation for a year after college. I then got an internship with the great Spike Lee on the film “Malcolm X” and the rest is history — I had found my medium.

Documentary is incredible to me because real life stories are often stranger than fiction — and documentary can provide a strong platform for underrepresented communities when it comes to social justice issues that need to be to be brought to light.

W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?

GG: The best advice regarding filmmaking was to refuse to take no for an answer — keep knocking on doors and go where the love is. There are many obstacles for women of color in this industry, and it’s important to climb those hurdles, build community, and keep the door open for those who come after you no matter what.

For every 100 refusals there will be one yes — this was a great lesson. I was lucky to have mentors in Spike Lee, Sam Pollard, and Sheila Nevins, also the amazing organization Chicken & Egg that supports women filmmakers. I hope to help carry on their tradition of generosity and support for other filmmakers.

The worst advice may have been to wait for folks to recognize your capabilities when they clearly don’t see them — again, going where the love is and where people are excited to support you and your work matters. It may be a smaller pond, but that’s better than being lost in the ocean.

W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?

GG: Build community and keep believing in and sharing your vision — together we rise. Other women in the industry have been my biggest source of support, and building those bonds and elevating each other is key to our collective success.

For all the people who tell you no there is one somewhere who will open the door for you — keep asking, keep knocking, don’t give up. Support other women and they will support you. Also, demand equity and equality on everything you work on. Make sure your teams are diverse in every way and reflect the world you want to live in — hopefully it’s diverse!

W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.

GG. That’s really hard . I have so many! Some are Ava DuVernay’s “Selma,”Julia Bacha’s “Budrus,” and Jane Campion’s “The Piano.” “Selma” because it was so beautifully done, a character driven historical piece that made the history come alive, It was heartbreaking and enraging and inspiring all at once.

“Budrus” because it was incredible storytelling combined with activism, and “The Piano” because it was a flawless script and directing — a simple story made achingly real.

W&H: What differences have you noticed in the industry since the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements launched?

GG: I think in some ways we are not seeing the equity and equality we hoped to yet, nor actual justice in many of the cases brought to light, but I think women feel empowered by the solidarity of the movement and we have to keep pressing forward and stomping our feet until the playing field is level.

There is a quote by Cornel West used in the film, “Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public,” and we must keep thinking of the movement in this way — this movement is about love for ourselves and other women and we must keep it alive.