Reeling on gender

Despite being a short film, there is no stopping the accolades that have been pouring in for Atharyam (The Opaque). The latest feather in the film’s cap is that it will be screened at the Slum Film Festival Nairobi, Kenya.  Despite the specific nature of Kenya's slum film festival, Atharyam is a semi-finalist at this event. The festival is a platform featuring slum stories and realities from the slums in Africa and beyond. However, this year, they are inviting films to be featured on a topic ‘New Environment’.

The film was launched in Singapore by national award winner, Suraj Venjaramoodu. Atharyam is directed by Anish Kunnath and produced by Lavanya Menon. Anish, an IT professional born in Kerala, is a passionate short-film maker based out of Singapore. It was a newspaper report that caught his eye and had him decide to make that into a 15-minute short film. 

Anish explains, “Last year, I happened to read a report that the Kochi Metro had employed transgender persons and later read that some of them had left the job. I also understood that society has become more welcoming of the community and that change in the attitude of the general public gave me the spark to make this film.”  The film begins with two girls and their reactions when they happen to have a chance encounter with a transgender person inside a shopping mall in Kerala. Anish says, “The story moves forward through the transgender person but it is not exclusively about the community, rather it is more about genders,” he informs, adding, “The film takes on an angle in perceiving our encounters with different people and portrays the impervious mentality that exists in our society, where people judge a book by its cover.”  

Much like a full-length feature film, Atharyam took almost a year of pre-production work before the stage was set to begin its shoot. Anish had some challenges to surmount about which he explains, “The film was shot completely in Singapore where homosexuality is not encouraged. The transgender persons do not have the freedom to marry or live together.” Anish took permission to shoot the film from the concerned authorities.   The art forms of Kerala were also included in the short film and Anish states, “I have included Kathakali in the short because it is through the mudras of Kathakali that the feelings of the transgender persons are shown.” The title reflects the theme of the film as Anish says, “The short-film was named ‘The Opaque’ as the creators felt society is deprived of transparency and is prejudiced while dealing with different genders.”

The India premiere of the film was at ‘Pune Short Film Festival 2018’ held in June. Atharyam has been officially selected for various national and international film festivals including Lake View International Film Festival. It bagged awards for the best short film at Eurasia International Short film festival and also one at Virgin Spring Cine Fest. The film was also a finalist at Calcutta Cult Film Festival and a semi-finalist at Los Angeles Cine Fest and Gender Reel film festival. It continues to garner an excellent audience and critics’ feedback. The Slum Film Festival Nairobi will be held from 29 to 31 August.