Philadelphia-based documentary filmmaker, Cheryl Hess introduces Marriage Cops, her new feature-length film co-directed with Shashwati Talukdar.

Marriage Cops was filmed with rare access inside the Women’s Helpline at the Dehradun Police Headquarters in North India. It offers an intimate and nuanced perspective on how marital conflicts are negotiated in a state-run space, raising timely questions about gender, marriage, bureaucracy, and state power in contemporary India. While the subject matter is often serious, the film also reveals moments of humor and humanity that emerge in everyday life.