Malayali student’s film on homosexuality at Youki fest

 

The film was selected out of about 500 submissions. The Youki fest in  Wels, Autriche, which screens about 70 films annually, is Austria’s biggest up-and-coming media festival with international focus.

Bose, a native of Vythiri in Wayanad district and master’s student  in arts and aesthetics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, said the film was made to express his protest against the country taking away the rights of homosexuals.

 

“We live under a democratic system which guarantees fundamental rights. I wanted to expose  the hypocrisy of Indian society on homosexuals.  Homosexuality is not a crime but  a state of mind of individuals. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court itself showed its double-standard  by recriminalising gay sex in 2013.  I have justified  my stance on the issue through the film, which is my debut directorial venture.  I am delighted by its selection in a prestigious international film fest,” he said.    

 

The 15-minute film revolves around the life of a lesbian couple enacted by Lakshmi Marikar, an MPhil student in women’s studies at JNU, and   Prachi Jain, post-graduate student in Japanese language there.  

 

The couple struggle to sort out their problems that they face from the political realm. There is a tragic twist when an unexpected intruder enters their personal and sexual life. The intruder  is symbolically portrayed as the ‘penile code’ that represents draconian law and patriarchal society.

 

Bose also said that he had sent the  film to many other international and national film festivals. The camera  is cranked by Ankit Arya, a graduate from Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute.