August, New York City: The second annual IView Film Festival, held on August 28th through August 30th 2009 at the Lincoln Center and Asia Society is becoming one of the most respected film festivals that explores gender and sexuality issues among South-Asians, but not limited to. The event, presented by Engendered, included film screenings followed by Q&A with the actors and/or directors. The first night also saw a plenary discussion with celebrity participants including Mira Nair, John Abraham, Boman Irani, Farhan Akthar, Zoya Akhtar, Ram Madhvani, Tarun Mansukhani, Parvez Sharma and Myna Mukherjee, the founder of Engendered. The panel was moderated by Jitin Hingorani and Shailja Gupta.

After the plenary, the Opening Reception included a performance by Nadia Ali followed by dancing with Jonathan Benedict from the Lindbergh Project and DJ Kris. A fundraising party hosted by Bibi Magazine was held Saturday night at Leela Lounge with DJ Ashish, DJ Naveen and DJ Kris. A Special Zeenat Aman Tribute Dance by Kiran Shergill was performed in honor of the occasion. A closing reception at the Asia Society rounded out the weekend of festivities.

 

The IView Film Festival is an annual, New York-based, transnational arts and human rights festival that brings together the best in contemporary South Asian cinema, visual arts and performance to explore the complex realities of gender and sexuality in modern South Asia, especially at the intersection of ritual and religion. The festival is designed not only to raise awareness, but also act as a fulcrum to enter public dialogue, break silences and impact perceptions around issues of gendered identities, stereotyping, bias and sexual choice and further, how those issues relate to affirmation or violations of human rights, health rights and women's rights.

 

The Red Carpet

Starting with the Red Carpet Reception on August 28th, 2009 at the prestigious Lincoln Center, Bibi had the chance to interview some of the hottest stars in Bollywood and international acclaimed writers, directors, and producers that were participants in the IView Film Festival.

 

Arriving first was the brilliant Devika Urvashi Bhise. At the age of seventeen, she directed the appraised documentary, Hijras: The Third Gender. Hijras is a story about the outcastes of Indian society who live on its fringes. These eunuchs (originally only castrated males) were once employed by sultans and maharajas to guard the women in their harems. Now shunned by society, they are treated with less respect than the Dalits, or untouchables. Considered neither men nor women, Hijras have no constitutional rights. Currently, there is an ongoing debate in India regarding whether or not they should be granted the status of a third gender.

 

Bibi: How does it feel to be one of the youngest Directors at the IView Film Festival of 2009? And tell us how and why you chose to do a documentary on Hijras?

Devika: It’s an honor to be here today and I’m very excited. I have been traveling back and forth to India all my life, and I was always curious of why people were always scared of Hijras and why they were a scorn to society. I did this short film to create awareness of this segment of society to allow their voices to be heard. I was privileged to share this community’s inner life and have tried to capture its stark reality as a friend rather than a voyeur. The filming took place from June 2008 to September 2008 in various cities and locations in India.

Mehreen Jabbar is the Pakistani, award-winning director of numerous TV-films, with her first feature Ramchand Pakistani, which has already been released in Pakistan and India in 2008 and is currently playing in cinemas in the UK to critical and audience acclaim.

Beauty Parlour and Tumhari Bina, her 2 short films were screened at the IView Film Festival. Beauty Parlour is about the lives, loves and desires of four Pakistani women traced through visits to the beauty parlour. Two friends long for intimacies of a different kind, a to-be-bride longs for another while getting ready for her wedding, the ‘other woman’ struggles to define her existence via her relationship with her married lover and a physically challenged transvestite has dreams of a different kind. This short film explores themes that could not be expressed on mainstream Pakistan television at the time. Tumhari Bina deals with the desires of an older single woman who lives by herself in the house that she shared with her deceased brother. Her only other companion is her trusted gardener and the pleasures of the internet through which she plays her sinister games.

Bibi: How does it make you feel knowing that Engendered has created a common place for you to screen a film that explores themes that are not widely accepted in South-Asian cultures?

Mehreen: It feels great! I’m happy to be here. I’m a very shy person, so bear with me. I have always felt more comfortable working with middle-aged women and that lead to some short films I have done, including Beauty Parlour and Tumhari Bina. When I was born, they said I looked like an old soul, maybe that has something to do with it. I always challenge the traditional views of our culture, to bring awareness of the unspoken secrets in our society.

 

Dostana is the first Bollywood blockbuster where mainstream, straight actors play gay characters. Kunal and Sameer (John Abraham and Abhishek Bachan) are two straight guys who pretend to be a gay couple so as to secure a posh Miami apartment. However, the plot takes a hilarious turn when both men fall for their adorable roommate Neha, played by Priyanka Chopra. The New York Times raves the film “irreverently normalizes a topic that has been virtually absent from screens in India.”   Accompanied cast of Dostana (Red Carpet and Panelists) were: Tarun Mansukhani, director; John Abraham, actor; Boman Irani, actor.

 

Bibi: How does it feel to have Dostana as part of the IView Film Festival?

Tarun: Its' a good start and we are all excited to be here. We were fortunate to have an amazing cast that had great chemistry together and we brought to light a subject that is still behind closed doors, in a fun and universal way.

Bibi: What was your first reaction when you were approached with the script of Dostana? And what was the experience like playing a gay male who is Abhishek?s lover?

John: I was honored. It was a lot of fun and I have great chemistry with Abhishek. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have done Dostana. I see myself as an actor and I submerge myself into a character to bring them alive. I do the characters to entertain, not bringing in the social and political aspects of it into the picture.

Bibi: A versatile actor like yourself, what have you gain from the experience with your character in Dostana? Also, can you please tell us about your film 99?

Boman: Dostana was a great experience with a great cast and as an actor, I am always a student and I always become a little better with each character I play. I'm very pleased of Dostana being the only blockbuster film at the IView Film Festival. Wow, I can't believe you are asking my about 99. 99 is inspired by real events. It's about two men in two cities who are bound by a common feeling of always being stuck at '99'. They never make it to a century in life. It's small-time crooks, conspiracies, car crashes, a briefcase full of money with a historical controversy in the background.

Parvez Sharma is a New York-based writer and filmmaker who is best known for his A Jihad for Love, a documentary about gay and lesbian Muslims intheir home countries. His first feature, which he directed and produced, is an international phenomenon with more than one million viewers in 37 nations in the first year of its release.

Parvez's Red Carpet highlight was, "I can't wait for Bollywood to produce a gay movie that won't make me cringe"

Ram Madhvani directs for Equinox Films Private Limited, amongst the leading production houses in India, in which he is also a partner. With over a decade's experience in the profession, Ram has worked with every important advertising agency in the country to become one of the fraternity's most respected and sought-after filmmakers.

Let's Talk is a film about a woman, married for 10 years, who has an extra-marital affair and gets pregnant. She debates on whether she should tell her husband and plays out various scenarios in her mind about how he will react to her confession. The film unspools from Radhika's mind as she imagines her husband's possible reactions to her predicament. Newcomer Maia Katrak and sensational theatre actor Boman Irani provide riveting performances with a realism and truth unsurpassed in modern Indian cinema.

Zoya Akhtar (director) and Farhan Akhtar (actor) of Luck by Chance. Luck by Chance is a biting satire and insider's look at gender disparity in India's highly competitive film industry. This is the story of a struggling actor who arrives in Bollywood to become a movie star. His journey to fame is juxtaposed with that of an actress, who is also his love interest. Because of blatant gender inequity in this particular microcosm of Indian society, the woman is forced to experience everything from the "casting couch" syndrome to losing lead roles because of her age and looks. The New York Times says "it might seem as if Bollywood couldn't possibly satirize itself, but Zoya Akhtar manages the trick deftly."

Bibi: How do you feel about Luck By Chance being screened at the IView Film Festival as the Closing Night film?

Zoya: As a director I'm very honored to have my movie screened here tomorrow and hope everyone enjoys it as much as we enjoyed making it. Thank you.

Farhan: It's great being here and I feel very accomplished as an actor to have Lucky By Chance at the IView Film Festival.

Accomplished Film Director/Writer/Producer Mira Nair began her artistic career as an actor before turning her attention to film. She found incipient success as a documentary filmmaker, winning awards for So Far From India and India Cabaret. In 1988, Nair's debut feature, Salaam Bombay!, was nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe, and BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It also won the Camera D'Or (for best first feature) and the Prix du Publique (for most popular entry) at the Cannes Film Festival as well as 25 other international awards.

My Own Country tells the story of an East Indian doctor who settles in Johnson City, Tennessee. The doctor, Abraham Verghese, specializes in infectious diseases. It's 1985, and AIDS is spreading from the big cities to the rural areas. Abraham takes on the AIDS crisis as his personal crusade and is soon well-known for his compassion and non-judgmental treatment. As he becomes overwhelmed with patients from the surrounding states, his work begins to put a strain on his marriage.

Bibi: From a director's perspective, why is My Own Country an important part of a film festival that explores gender and sexuality issues?

Mira: I don't see it as gay or lesbian, I see it as form of art, humanizing the subject. All my films are challenging a society that has many secrets and I get high on rejection. If they say I can't do it, or it will never make it, I do it.

Los Angeles-based writer Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla is an award-winning writer whose debut novel Ode to Lata has been hailed as "an achievement" by The Los Angeles Times Book Review. Ode to Lata was adapted for the motion picture starring Sachin Bhatt, Wilson Cruz, and Sakina Jaffrey. Dhalla wrote the screenplay and is the associate producer for the film. Ode premiered at the Outfest Film Festival on July 17th, 2008 to a sold-out audience. It has been called "a beautiful portrait of the American experience for many first and second-generation Indian-Americans" by CineQueer.

Accompanied cast: Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla (writer); Anil Kumar (actor); Sachin Bhatt (actor).

Bibi: Ode to Lata already has accomplished so much as a novel. How does it feel to be here today at the IView Film Festival?

Ghalib: It's great being here in NY and I'm always happy to share my work! It's a personal story and I'm glad to be here with you tonight.

Anil: It was an amazing experience playing the role I have in Ode, the cast was great and I love Ghalib...my son...for I played his father in the film. I am very proud that the film is appreciated so much.

Sachin: This movie was my first feature movie I auditioned for, the first feature length movie I acted in, and I'm honored to have this as the starting point of my career! It was a role that opened a part of me that broke a lot of boundaries and took a lot of courage to be part of. I'm very proud to have it at the IView Film Festival.

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