My Atlas is a 2014 summer event series that pairs films with live travelogues to explore the varied experiences of women travelers.

Natasha Singh is a writer, activist, and teacher, Canadian-born of Indian descent. Her interest in understanding gender violence in India led her to investigate in person, and she has since become an outspoken advocate for women and girls caught in the cycle of sexual exploitation. Singh is a two-time winner of the Canada Council for the Arts Award for her literary work, and her writing has appeared in theNew York Times, South Asian Review, Threepenny Review,Crab Orchard Review, and a number of feminist journals and anthologies. In 2003, she co-founded Diasporadics, New York City’s first South Asian arts and activism festival. Singh will discuss her journey into India’s red light districts, her conversations with trafficked women, and the police corruption that led to her deportation.

In Joshua Marston’s 2004 Maria Full of Grace, a Colombian teenager turns to the drug trade for work, learning the tricks of a drug mule to transport heroin into the US. When her first trip, from Bogotá to New Jersey, ends in grisly tragedy, she flees to New York, fearful of her life. The film won Marston an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay, and lead actress Catalina Sandino Moreno was named Best Actress by the Berlin Film Festival and nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award.

Film Still: Maria Full of Grace (2004)