Open Spaces

When Deepa Mehta’s Fire,a controversial film about the love affair between two sisters-in-law,was pulled out of halls in 1998 following violent protests by radical Hindu groups,India was a different place. Today’s India is a tolerant,aware and sensitive country where Matinee idols like Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham have made homosexuality “a cool thing”. Gay themed films like My Brother Nihil are screened without any hindrance here. Well,hardly. For Bollywood gloss (and the convenient use of the gay plot devise in mainstream cinema) can hardly hide ugly realities. The truth is that even today men and women are tortured through electric shock therapy if they betray “aberrant” sexual behaviour. Television channels flash names and address along with photographs of men,supposedly gay,caught by police “undercover”. And lesbian women are raped to teach a lesson. “The truth is that the majority of Indian population is still insensitive to the gay cause. We need to reach out to the so called ‘mainstream society’” says Anindya Hajra of Pratyay Gender Trust.

The Annual Calcutta Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Film & Video Festival,which will be held at the Max Mueller Bhavan hopes to bridge that gap. “Kolkata is a film-loving city,and we hope to reach out to people of the city through this intiative. We hope that these films provoke discussions and thoughts,” says Malobika of Sappho for Equality.

The acclaimed feature documentary,A Jihad for Love,will be innaugral film of the festival. The documentary tries to explore the complex relationship between Islam and homosexuality. The festival also boasts of a retrospective of noted German director,Rainer Werner Fassbinder. An art exhibition by activist and visual artist,Giti Thandani will also be a part of the festival.

The festival will be held at the Max Mueller Bhavan from June 12 to 14.